Manufacture Smarter Blog

3/3/2017 - BY: DAVID BRADLEY
If executed properly, a business plan can help increase profits and the likelihood of your organization’s long-term success. Do you know that your Quality Management System (QMS) was designed to work in conjunction with your business plan? It’s true.

2/10/2017 - BY: ANDY NICHOLS
The 1974 David Bowie song suggests the singer has to “turn and face the strange,” and at first sight, some of the new requirements for ISO 9001:2015 might look like a “Space Oddity.” There’s the addition of “risk,” nothing about any documented procedures, quality manual or even that the role of the “management representative” is missing. And, what about the new layout?

12/9/2016 - BY: ANDY NICHOLS
The arrival of the latest version of the Aerospace Standard for Quality Management Systems, AS9100D, in October was highly anticipated—after all, its publication had been delayed a couple of times during 2016. Now, some organizations in the aerospace supply chain are eager to get started on the changes needed to their quality management system.

11/18/2016 - THE CENTER
When navigating by map and compass, it is important to be aware of magnetic declination. The magnetic north is not located at the North Pole, so more than likely, your compass is not truly pointing north. You need to adjust your compass reading and account for the difference to find True North.

11/11/2016 - THE CENTER
You are in business for a reason. One of those reasons involves the successful setting and achieving of long-range goals. And, in order to achieve those goals, strategic plans were executed.  From a business standpoint, tactical day-to-day operations, which are short term, need to support the strategic plans of an organization.

10/28/2016 - THE CENTER
For small businesses in today’s global and technologically advanced market, it is crucial to maintain competitiveness and stay aligned with larger organizations.

10/7/2016 - THE CENTER
Manufacturers across the United States are always searching for new ways to enhance the growth and development of their organizations, commonly focusing on the optimization of key areas, such as profitability, productivity and customer satisfaction. The challenge most manufacturers face however, is optimizing these key areas simultaneously.

7/29/2016 - THE CENTER
When an engineer sends a design to production, there is an area of the design where a feature or part is not clearly defined. Implanted in that area is the design’s zone of tolerance, also known as its limits of variation. The design can only tolerate a certain amount of deviation from that zone before material and money are wasted, time is lost, and productivity is diminished!

6/10/2016 - THE CENTER
Now more than ever, customers are demanding added customization in lower volumes with shorter lead times. Read on to learn how manufacturers can improve quality, productivity and customer satisfaction, while reducing resource requirements, inventories, lead-times and defects.

5/13/2016 - THE CENTER
For years, one of the requirements for ISO 14001 was to make the Environmental Policy “available to the public”. The most common way to accomplish this was to place it on the company’s website. With ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 14001:2015, the current requirement is to make the policy: “available to interested parties” (ISO 14001:2015 Clause 5.2) “available to relevant interested parties, as appropriate” (ISO 9001:2015 Clause 5.2.2) Identifying “Interested” So, the question is: Outside of the website, how do you make the policy available?  Before you start jumping through hoops, let’s find out what hoops need to be jumped through.