The acronym NFPA may have been referred to during a business meeting, read on a safety manual, or even heard on a television commercial, but what does NFPA really stand for and what is its purpose? Even though many people may be unfamiliar with the NFPA, it really is quite a large and helpful organization. NFPA stands for National Fire Protection Association. The NFPA is a non-profit…
Mike Wilson | April 16, 2013 | Safety Solutions | Electrical Safety, Fire Safety, NFPA, Regulations & Compliance, Safety, Workplace Safety
The pertinent use of safety stickers and labels is a must within any industrial work environment. Safety stickers and labels serve many functions, first and foremost, they help to warn or inform employees and visitors of any specific safety concerns. Additionally, they also serve as handy informational reminders from identifying the contents within certain pipes, to showing where recycling may be located, all the way to highlighting…
Mike Wilson | April 15, 2013 | Safety Products | Labeling, Safety
When it comes to improving any process or facility there is nothing more valuable than the open exchange of ideas and a motivated workforce which is willing to try new things. In the past many managers tried to improve production using fear as a motivator. While in the short term it can be effective to use threats to get people to do the work that needs to…
Mike Wilson | April 12, 2013 | Training | Coaching, Continuous Improvement
The competition is fierce out in the world of business, there is always the drive to make things bigger (or smaller), better, and cheaper. Consumers demand quality products that actually deliver the results promised. Upon such a competitive playing ground, what separates the business “haves” from the business “have nots?” The answer may be as simple as alignment. When referring to alignment in terms of business, it…
Mike Wilson | April 11, 2013 | Training | Continuous Improvement, Lean
People who read about or study the lean techniques will find that most of what they read is about how to apply these standards to a manufacturing facility. This is where the concept really got its roots, and also where it is most commonly implemented. It is important to realize, however, that in addition to manufacturing facilities the lean concepts can be used anywhere that has any…
Mike Wilson | April 10, 2013 | Lean | Continuous Improvement, Lean
When people make changes on the floor of a manufacturing facility the benefits are often immediate and obvious. Whether this is a reduction in wasted time or a streamlined method of moving a part through the production process, it is a clear improvement almost right from the beginning. When looking at the benefits of lean management, however, it may be more difficult to identify what is working…
Mike Wilson | April 9, 2013 | Lean | Continuous Improvement, Lean Manufacturing
When you’re producing goods or services in a business the worst thing you can have is waste. Waste is anything that does not provide value to the company and specifically to the end customer. It could be anything from the time someone wastes at work because they have nothing to do to extra parts for a project which need to be discarded. It can even involve inefficiencies…
Mike Wilson | April 8, 2013 | Lean | Continuous Improvement, Lean Manufacturing
When it comes to the topic of making changes, many people tend to focus on making big changes to create a big impact. However, big changes often take extended amounts of time and resources to fully implement, and many people and businesses alike do not have the feasibility to always enact big changes. Instead, it is often wiser to focus more on small changes that in the…
Mike Wilson | April 4, 2013 | Lean | Continuous Improvement
When entering an industrial facility such as a warehouse or a factory, it is quite easy to see that labels are everywhere. Labels and identification stickers can help convey pertinent information as well as important safety messages. Labels can be found on electrical boxes, pipes, forklifts, doors, in walkways, and almost anywhere else. The uses involving label identification are virtually limitless. However, even though the need for…
Mike Wilson | April 3, 2013 | Safety Products | Forklift Safety, Safety
We all know how irritating it can be to lose something we need. Whether we lose something simple such as a pair of nail clippers or misplace the correct size wrench to fix an immediate automobile problem, when something becomes lost or misplaced it results in a loss of productivity. Instead of using the item to meet its intended purpose, we are scrambling around searching for the…
Mike Wilson | April 1, 2013 | Safety Solutions | Marine Safety, Workplace Safety
Catchball may sound like a game of throwing and catching a ball, and in Japan it is a game just as that. However, catchball is also a common business practice used in lean businesses during the strategy deployment phase of Hoshin Kanri or simply Hoshin Planning. Needless to say, it does not include the use of an actual ball. Instead, it is more of a figurative term…
Mike Wilson | March 29, 2013 | Lean | Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma
When you think of a 5S factory, what comes to mind? Do you think simply about organization or does your mind paint a picture of a fully functional, well-ordered, and efficiently run work environment? If you are thinking the second option is correct, you are on the right track. When it comes to a factory or industrial work facility that has fully implemented the practices of 5S,…
Mike Wilson | March 28, 2013 | 5S | 5S, Lean
If you have ever worked in a business setting, you have probably heard people talk about forecasting. No, we are not talking about the weather, but instead the projected sales or amount of business transactions expected to help prepare a business for the future. Many businesses focus quite a bit in the area of forecasting, by looking at preceding seasonal trends, data, and discussing overall knowledge and…
Mike Wilson | March 27, 2013 | Lean | Lean Manufacturing
In the business world, there is a constant need and desire for improvement. It doesn’t matter whether a business specializes in the market of rare auto parts or in making the best enchiladas. The plain and simple truth is that improving business practices to meet the ever-changing and diverse needs of society is essential to the success of any business endeavor. However, with all this change and…
Mike Wilson | March 26, 2013 | Lean | Continuous Improvement, Lean
Spring is here again! Spring is usually a time for fresh starts, new ideas, and that inevitable spring cleaning. However, when many of us think about spring cleaning we automatically think about doing household chores such as sweeping out the garage and cleaning and reorganizing the house. We rarely think, “Oh, spring is here, it is time to review our current business processes,” however, spring is an excellent…
Mike Wilson | March 25, 2013 | 5S | 5S
