I read with interest a recent WSJ article “How to Fix Boeing: A Repair Manual.” We had similar invisible factory issues at Ford 30+ years ago. Boeing has (correctly) identified “traveled work” as a bad practice. In automotive, we called it “first-run” but it was the same problem. Not completing work in station snowballs […]
operational excellence
A Deeper Labor Pool
In today’s post COVID economy, labor is in short supply. Here’s an old-school manufacturing best practice that can be used to develop a deeper labor pool. Way back in the day, I had a production management position at Louisville Assembly Plant during the initial Explorer launch. The launch was hugely successful. Production quickly ramped up […]
Automation with Labor Constraints
The financial justification for automation with labor constraints now has an additional component: contribution margin. Historically, automation investments have been primarily justified by reducing people. Retiring baby boomers and COVID-19 have created labor shortages. Here’s the new math: Automation is a broad term for any technology that reduces human input. While the terminology may be […]
A Plan for Every Part
A Plan for Every Part drives waste out of inventory and warehousing operations. It is the foundation for the continuous improvement of your procurement and material handling activities. Here’s how to get started: A Plan for Every Part is exactly as named: a compilation of facts and figures about all of your part numbers. While […]
Supply Chain Risk
Supply chain risk is readily evident with COVID-19 related plant shutdowns across the country and across the globe. Outsourcing and off-shoring have increased the length of supply chains. Lean Manufacturing has reduced inventories. Just-In-Time / Just-In-Sequence deliveries leave little time for the unexpected. Here is a simple method to assess supply chain risk. The method […]