Manufacture Smarter Blog

5/8/2020 - BY: PETE SCHMIDT
After visiting hundreds of companies throughout the country, one thing I have consistently observed among successful companies is they have less resistance to change compared to those that think they have their processes under control and are working at their highest efficiency. Do not fear change – embrace it for the good it can do for your organization.

2/28/2020 - BY: ROGER TOMLINSON
With the impacts of the last recession still weighing heavily on the industry, it's never too early to start preparing your business for the next economic downturn. Rather than waiting for the downturn to hit, why not fortify your business ahead of time to ensure your company emerges successful?

7/19/2019 - BY: KARA KUCINSKI
Manufacturing is entering a new era. And while the current business landscape may be vastly different than what manufacturers have experienced before, the same tools and concepts from the past can be used to inspire change and improve practices in this new setting. One such tool is Kaizen.

3/29/2019 - BY: ROGER TOMLINSON
With downtime, profitability and quality on the line, failure to properly maintain and keep up with equipment can quickly lead to major – and expensive – issues for manufacturers. With this in mind, the goal to achieve autonomous maintenance is growing among manufacturers as they strive to reduce risk associated with downtime or broken machinery, while also improving productivity and extending the lifetimes of equipment.

2/8/2019 - BY: MIKE BEELS
We tend to assume that every task we perform is essential in sustaining operations. But after analyzation from a Lean perspective, we might be surprised to discover that many of our activities are actually costing the organization time and money.

8/17/2018 - BY: GEORGE SINGOS
While company-wide alignment is essential to realizing strategic goals, progress cannot be made without maintaining a strong sense of how well the business is performing. This is where Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) come into play. By establishing, monitoring and analyzing KPIs, such as on-time delivery, changeover time or schedule bumping, companies will be equipped with the data and guidance necessary to align their business toward success.

7/27/2018 - BY: MIGUEL GOMEZ
What is the vision that drives your company? Why do you operate each day? What do you hope to achieve? Do your employees have the same goals? Many organizations find that their larger company visions can be forgotten in day-to-day firefighting. This is detrimental to success as workers at every level are left unaware of what they should be doing or how their work contributes to larger business goals.

5/11/2018 - BY: RON QUINKERT
Now that we’re five months into the year, it’s safe to say that most of us have long-abandoned our New Year’s Resolutions. Whether we were hoping to lose weight, get better sleep or save more money, we probably forgot about our 2018 missions just about as soon as the new year started.

4/27/2018 - BY: GEORGE SINGOS
Your company is working harder than ever before, with higher sales and faster production leading to the largest increase in revenue you’ve seen so far. Yet somehow profits are less than they were last year. How could this be?

3/9/2018 - BY: GEORGE SINGOS
The process of embracing new technology continues to confuse and discourage many small and medium-sized manufacturers. Although there is no established protocol in place for how to successfully transition to utilizing such technologies, the first step for all manufacturers is to understand the needs of their business.