Helpful Tools to Make Layouts for a Production Line
Businesses are rarely setup in the most efficient configuration from the very beginning. If you happen to be one of the keen and lucky few to have the foresight to do so, congratulations. If not, you might be looking for advice on how to re-organize your production line in a more lean manner. While the…
Tony Ferraro | December 5, 2013 | Lean | Continuous Improvement
Using Lean Six Sigma to Solve Workplace Production Issues & Inefficiencies
When a problem arises in the workplace it’s only natural to want to fix it as soon as possible. The most common response to a lapse in efficiency or production is to find the most immediate and apparent cause of an issue and implement steps to correct it. While this approach is not inherently wrong,…
Tony Ferraro | December 4, 2013 | Lean | Six Sigma
Lean Manufacturing in a Nutshell
Lean manufacturing is a topic which has been talked about a lot over the past few years, and it continues to get more attention almost every day. While there can be no doubt that lean strategies in manufacturing and other industries are extremely important, and effective, they can also be confusing. It is impossible to…
Tony Ferraro | November 15, 2013 | Lean | Lean, Lean Manufacturing
Chaku Chaku & Other Lean Terms You Should Know
We’re constantly told that change is a good thing, and, depending on the details of your current operation, most lean experts would also agree with that sentiment. Take the concept of Kaizen, for example. Kaizen is the environment of constant improvement and elimination of waste – in both time and materials – that lean operations…
Tony Ferraro | November 11, 2013 | Lean | Chaku Chaku, Kaizen, Lean, Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma
Yokoten: From In Theory to Implanted
Most of the Japanese terms that have arrived in the American business world have their roots in lean manufacturing. Lean manufacturing sprouted up out of Toyota’s re-tooling of it’s operations some decades ago and continues to be adopted by more and more companies today. “Yokoten” is no different. A lean term meaning “horizontal deployment,” Yokoten…
Tony Ferraro | October 24, 2013 | Lean | Lean Manufacturing
Temporary Consequences of Making the Change to Lean Manufacturing
The concept of lean manufacturing is no longer a new one. It’s been around, tried and tested, for several decades now, improving production output and minimizing waste, as its principles were designed to do. It’s odd, then, that there are still so many businesses who have yet to streamline their workspaces and policies to reflect…
Tony Ferraro | October 22, 2013 | Lean | Lean Manufacturing
On the Constraints of Bottlenecks
In its simplest form, a bottleneck limits flow. In its original meaning, this is referred to how the neck of a bottle, regardless of the size of the rest of the container, limited how fast it could be poured. This same principle occurs in business, when one stage of production is slow, your entire process…
Tony Ferraro | October 16, 2013 | Lean | Bottlenecks, Lean
Heijunka – Increasing Efficiency
Lean manufacturing has been adopted by countless production operations around the world over the last several decades, and for good reason. Principles that increase the efficiency of your workplace and create a smoother flow in production can only be beneficial for your workplace. I’m here to introduce to you the epitome of flow and efficiency…
CSS Editorial Staff | October 10, 2013 | Lean
Changeover: Streamlining Your Business
When it comes to streamlining your business and following the principles of lean manufacturing, it’s important to think about changeover. In most assembly-line type work floors there are significant amounts of changeover that occur on a daily, weekly, monthly, or as-demanded basis. Changeover itself is the process of taking a machine or series of equipment…
Tony Ferraro | October 10, 2013 | Lean | Lean Manufacturing
The JIT System
When running any sort of physical production based business, you will often have stock on hand. Instead of only stocking for a short time, there will be a “backup” supply of products that can be called upon as demand changes. This is known as “just in case” manufacturing and is highly common in most industries.…
Tony Ferraro | October 3, 2013 | Lean | JIT, Lean
Re-Inventing the Wheel – Do It Just This Once
Safety incentive programs have been around for quite some time, and for most companies, they’ve changed very little since their inception. However, like everything these days, what’s considered “best practice” may change very rapidly, and safety programs have certainly seen several revisions in their time. What you’re doing right now could seem like a trusty,…
Tony Ferraro | September 26, 2013 | Lean | Continuous Improvement, Facility Efficiency, Lean Manufacturing
Shojinka: The Secret Ingredient of Highly Effective Production
Ever wonder if there was a way to produce more while using less man power? Of course you have: minimizing inputs while maximizing output is a business 101 concept that we carry with us from day one, and struggle to fully tackle throughout our entire careers. What if I told you its really possible to…
Tony Ferraro | September 20, 2013 | Lean | Continuous Improvement, Shojinka
Improving Workplace Efficiency: One Lean Step at a Time
I like to think of a working environment as one body of movement, a system of metaphorical cells, organs, and subsystems working together to create life. In business, this “life” usually comes in the form of customer value and/or product output, depending on the industry in which you reside. Just as we think about healthy…
Tony Ferraro | September 13, 2013 | Lean | Continuous Improvement, Facility Efficiency, Lean, Lean Manufacturing
Lean Takes Time
Have you ever heard the phrase “everything good in life takes time?” If so, you may understand that under common circumstances things do take time. It would be pretty unrealistic to develop and build a whole company from the ground up in less than a week or even month for that matter. Rome wasn’t built…
Tony Ferraro | September 5, 2013 | Lean | Continuous Improvement, Healthcare, Lean Manufacturing
PDCA: How Can this Tool Help You?
You may have heard of PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act), but how much do your really know and understand about it? Have you tried using this method in the past? Was it successful? If it wasn’t successful, what may have contributed towards its ineffectiveness? These are some questions you should ask yourself before making a true, valiant effort…
Tony Ferraro | September 3, 2013 | Lean | Continuous Improvement, Facility Efficiency, Gemba, Kaizen, Lean Manufacturing
