Manufacture Smarter Blog

12/18/2015 - THE CENTER
Electronics, chemicals, metal, food... scrap happens in all industries and to some extent, it’s unavoidable. In most production processes, there will always be some amount of unusable product such as subpar raw material, product that was destroyed or damaged during the production phase, or finished goods that did not meet customer specifications.

11/20/2015 - THE CENTER
Remember the old adage, “Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door”? It is no longer acceptable just to build a better mousetrap. That mousetrap must now be built using a team-oriented approach and it should deliver a product/process in less time, using less material and fewer capital resources.

10/30/2015 - THE CENTER
Lean is a powerful, effective and simple to understand business improvement activity. Kanban, a lean information and material flow control tool, is a great example of this simplicity. Initiated by Toyota, Kanban is a concept that relates to obtaining materials or required items 'just in time' for their introduction into the assembly or process.

10/16/2015 - THE CENTER
Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) is a ratio that demonstrates the number of parts produced by a machine versus its theoretical or optimal capacity.

10/2/2015 - THE CENTER
The end goal of every manufacturer is to build a superior product which brings value to the customer at a reasonable cost. But, how this is accomplished relies on having an efficient and effective workflow within the plant. The process of taking in raw materials and transforming them into finished goods can be complicated, but it doesn’t have to be!

9/18/2015 - THE CENTER
“That order will be delivered within the next day. It will be picked and shipped as soon as I hit ENTER. Thank you so much for making us your number one supplier. We value your business”. Once the ENTER key is pressed, will the inventory be available to fulfill the order?

9/4/2015 - THE CENTER
If you Google “Value Stream Mapping,” a very elaborate (and wordy) definition pops up on the screen. In order to understand the concept, we must simplify the definition. Value Stream Mapping looks at how things are currently executed in order to improve processes in the future. The actual mapping portion comes into play because a written ‘map’ is used to sequentially depict steps required to design, produce and provide a good or service.

7/17/2015 - THE CENTER
The word Kaizen is often referenced when talking about Lean Manufacturing. Kaizen is a combination of two Japanese words: ‘Kai’ meaning change and ‘Zen’ meaning good. Kaizen combines these words to express the idea that big changes come from many small changes over a period of time. For manufacturers, business process improvement and an increase in profit is the result of many small changes accumulated over time.

7/10/2015 - THE CENTER
All manufacturers want to boost productivity and efficiency while reducing errors and accidents. Standardization of work, which can be difficult to adopt initially, can be an effective way to increase productivity and efficiency since it defines expectations, formalizes processes and creates accountability.

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.