Happy New Year! As a way to ring in the new year from Manufacturing Transformation, here is a list of our top ten most read blog posts from 2014. If you haven’t had a chance to read them yet, these might be worth exploring further.
10. Improve Operational Agility with Strong Process Governance
The ability to adapt quickly to change separates the survivors from those destined to extinction. This concept exists in biology, but is equally true in manufacturing operations management, especially in today’s hyper-competitive global market. Just look at the headlines to see examples every day. Companies like HP, Sony and Sharp, which at one time where the leaders in their respective markets are now fighting for their survival. While there might be a situation where too much flexibility led to indecision, my assumption is that every manufacturer seeks to improve their operational flexibility.
9. Welcome to the 4th Industrial Revolution!
Much was written about the Fourth Industrial Revolution during the year. This article takes a historical perspective on what changes occurred during the past three revolutions, and explores what might be in store for manufacturing in the future, given the future role of machines speaking to each other and the increasing use of intelligence to automate processes.
8. Three Tips for Tracking Inventory with GPS
GPS tracking isn’t just for shipping. It can be used in a variety of ways to track and manage inventory and Work-In-Process at a production site. Using GPS tracking, you can maintain real-time knowledge of where your inventory is both inside and outside the warehouse. You can easily locate it within the warehouse – even if it’s been moved since arrival – and can be instantly notified when it leaves and where it goes.
7. Supply Chain Capability vs. Capacity – What Is best to Optimize?
This article compares supply chain capacity and capability – two different concepts – and what manufacturers should be most focused on for optimization. Supply chain capacity is more of a volume measure – how much throughput can you achieve across your supply chain? Supply chain capability, on the other hand, reflects how robust and agile your supply chain is to disruptions.
6. Five Ways to Measure Operational Excellence
This post takes a look at what it really means to perform at a level of “operational excellence”? What metrics should be measured? How much should this metric be a comparison? One way to better address this question is to establish a set of criterion as an evaluation metric. A company’s ability to score well on each attribute would suggest a high degree of operational excellence. Read this post to see what criterion might be the best to include.
5. Three Ways to Improve Warehouse Efficiency
When trying to look for ways to improve the efficiency of your warehouse, a good plan is to understand the way that shelves and space are being utilized. This post examines how there are many ways to improve the efficiency of your warehouse such as implementing a warehouse management system), how you position each shelf or how to best utilize space.
4. Six Ways to get Smart and Cut Manufacturing Costs
When it comes to “modern” enterprise manufacturing intelligence, a lot has changed in recent years. Manufacturing issues have only grown more complex, while the new technologies that have evolved to meet these challenges now require new knowledge to understand, implement and leverage effectively. Companies now find themselves under pressure for more rapid product introductions, adaptation to local market conditions and continuous improvement to optimize costs, quality and efficiency.
3. Do Quality Inspections Add Value?
If you choose to not perform a quality inspection during your production process, then some products will be shipped with defects. If this outcome is acceptable, then don’t perform a quality inspection. For the rest of us, this post takes a deeper dive into what should be considered in evaluating the need to perform quality inspections.
2. How do you Improve Production Throughput Capacity?
AGCO leveraged their next generation manufacturing execution system to support and expand their Lean program. After all, you can’t improve what you can’t measure (see related post on this topic here). Read this article to understand how this system is now being used to help make strategic production decisions, as well as to gain better visibility in order to make more informed decisions.
And, the most-read blog post of 2014 was …
1. Three Ways to Improve Quality with Lean Manufacturing
I have been involved in at least two major projects in the past year that involved combining a Lean manufacturing program with quality process improvements, which got me thinking about the combination of the two.
Gordon can be found on Google+ .
