Manufacture Smarter Blog

5/18/2018 - BY: ANNA STEFOS
A few weeks ago, The Center’s Brian Mamo wrote about great food pairings as a way to define the combination of “sales” and “marketing” into “smarketing.” An equally dynamic pairing provides manufacturers with valuable tools for reducing waste and improving quality as well as efficiency: Lean and Six Sigma.

9/22/2017 - BY: RUSS MASON
Reconsidering your facility’s layout will enable your business to reduce material handling costs, minimize space requirements, and reduce energy bills. Whether you’re relocating completely or simply re-arranging your current set-up, there are several goals to keep in mind.

6/23/2017 - BY: CHUCK WERNER
When teaching a new group of Continuous Improvement (Lean and/or Six Sigma) students, it’s always critical to emphasize the importance of the first “team” activity of any project or kaizen— the process map. There are many benefits to process mapping. One is its highly visual nature.

1/27/2017 - THE CENTER
“How can we do better?” It’s an ongoing question for business owners and managers.  In order to lead your organization towards sustained success in 2017, it’s imperative that you look for new ways to optimize organizational processes and operations. This will help leverage your company’s competitive advantage. 

11/4/2016 - THE CENTER
If you are interested in optimizing your organization’s capabilities and efficiencies to produce the best quality output possible at the lowest cost, it’s time to adopt Six Sigma methodology. Six Sigma is a measurement-based strategy for process improvement and variation reduction that utilizes DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control) as a road map to successful implementation.

10/14/2016 - THE CENTER
We all agree on the benefits of embracing a Six Sigma Culture. It is after all a management methodology which allows companies to use data to eliminate defects and reduce variability in any process, manufacturing and business alike.

6/5/2015 - THE CENTER
Every day, MMTC is out consulting with Michigan’s manufacturers about how to improve their competitiveness. While we work with a diverse group of companies – from food and chemical producers to automobile parts and metal manufacturers – organizations of all industries and sizes are focused on process improvement to boost profits.

5/15/2015 - THE CENTER
For most companies in the business world, reducing costs is viewed upon positively. But, for those who speak of it, BEWARE! Sometimes, the idea of reducing costs becomes synonymous with cutting staff in the manufacturing world, especially in the minds of employees. Instead of focusing on just reducing costs, manufacturers should prioritize their efforts and focus on reducing excess and unnecessary costs. This is where Six Sigma comes in.

2/6/2015 - THE CENTER
A productive business is one that is able to manufacture quality products effectively and at low cost…correct?  In reality, a productive business is also one that’s able to manufacture quality products effectively while improving overall employee morale. Unhappy employees can be just as damaging to a business’ bottom-line as bad products or processes.

1/16/2015 - THE CENTER
Project success is the true value of any Six Sigma endeavor. Value, achieved one project at a time, builds success. Six Sigma is more than just problem solving. This means that selecting the right projects becomes critical to success. Knowing that most businesses have limited resources, how should companies set project priorities?