Today's international business climate is becoming more and more competitive and tough to stand out in the crowd. Additionally, more and more plant operations are moving to Mexico, China and other countries where there are lower wage rates, less intensive laws (workers compensation), etc. To succeed in today's environment, [...]
Manufacturers can no longer count on customer loyalty, but they can expect customers continued demands for quality products and service. Quality has seemingly fallen out of favor in terms of the number of articles and attention in industry circles; however, it remains a bedrock principle for customer service and [...]
I was asked to give a speech in January of 2008 on trends and opportunities of 2008. While researching for the speech, I reviewed the last several months of Wall Street Journal alerts and other trends, and the overall story was downright scary - oil continues to push to [...]
To succeed in today's environment, it is no longer desirable to have a world class operation focused on providing a value add while maximizing resources; it is a requirement. Today's global business climate is becoming more competitive. It is tough to stand out in the crowd, and it is [...]
Liken sustainability to reducing waste, which in turn respects the environment and makes business financial sense. Sustainability is gaining traction in today’s cutting edge discussions. Whenever a topic pops up in multiple places suddenly, I take notice. I’ve read multiple articles in trade publications and magazines, attended a keynote [...]
Bedrock - always appropriate. I want to thank my mentor in this topic, Debra Daniels for her expertise – Debra, have I incorporated your wisdom appropriately? Build safety into the culture – most safety programs are pointless as they are considered an outside program (and many times, meetings are [...]
Why do failures generate so much interest? Perhaps as students, we had it pounded into our heads that mistakes are bad - avoid failure at all costs. What can we learn from failure? First, failure isn't fatal - not only is failure not fatal but it also is critical [...]
As I continually find, fundamentals are often overlooked yet critical to success; thus, it seems this is a great topic to take a look at.... What matters in your operation? - Forget about Lean, Six Sigma, TQM and the rest for now. In my experience, it is a distraction [...]
As the cost advantages for outsourcing dry up more companies are bringing manufacturing back to North America. Re-shoring may increasingly be your best bet for improving customer service levels without going broke. GE has started to rev up Appliance Park again - and is starting to bring manufacturing back [...]
Sales & Operations Planning (sometimes known as SIOP or sales, inventory & operations planning) drives revenue, profitability and cash flow. Here are 5 tips to ensure success: Balances demand & supply – The key benefit of SIOP is to balance demand (sales forecasts) with supply (our ability to meet [...]
