The best way to reduce machining lead time is to establish a “flow” from one process to another, using cells to link, synchronize, and eliminate excessive material handling, excess inventory, and ...

In the context of increasing global industrial competition and intensifying customer demands, there has been considerable pressure on U.S. small- and medium-sized (SME) manufacturers in recent years ...

Lean manufacturing is a production theory that emphasizes the elimination of waste in all forms. Resource expenditures that do not contribute to the value of a product are wasteful in a lean ...

Still looking for a comprehensive yet simplified treatment of lean production that can serve everyone from C-level executives to machine operators? Meeting those objectives helped the first edition of ...

Single-piece production is a staple of lean manufacturing. Microlab, a manufacturer of high-performance components such as directional couplers and filters for RF and microwave distribution systems, ...

Manufacturing continues to stand as one of the final frontiers to digital transformation. We are now a decade into Industry 4.0, and all of us can agree that it’s been an exhilarating ten years.

Lean principles have proved incredibly effective for future-proofing organizations from wasting resources. Though the philosophy originated in manufacturing, its adaptability has made it essential for ...

It is designed to better synchronize material flows, lower costs and improve collaboration across operations. The solution fills some of the “white spaces” or gaps around enterprise resource planning ...

Flow manufacturing is a production method used by makers of assembly-line products, such as auto manufacturers. It dates from the 1980s and is based on the principles of the Toyota production system, ...

Brush and Maritan write that flow manufacturing "allows a plant to develop its manufacturing capabilities of quality, flexibility and delivery speed with positive feedback on cost and efficiency.

Among the biggest challenges in a high-mix environment is that production needs may swing 50% from one day to the next, says Dorner Manufacturing CEO Terry Schadeberg. Lean is a management philosophy ...

I almost can’t take it anymore. I have the pleasure of meeting hundreds of people and seeing hundreds of shops, from small two-person operations all the way to the largest manufacturers in the country ...