Innovation

  • Learn From the Past So You Don’t Repeat It

    • May 31, 2017
    • Posted by: David Marshall
    • Category: Business, Innovation
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    Balmoral Castle - Understand the history of places and learn from the past to avoid repeating those mistakes

    The further backward you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see. I’ve always been a big fan of Winston Churchill, and as I was growing up, I adopted several of his quotes as philosophies to live by. This month, I’ll discuss four quotes that have guided me over my professional career. Being

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  • Three Major Benefits From Changing Our Factory Layout

    • March 29, 2017
    • Posted by: David Marshall
    • Category: Innovation, Manufacturing
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    A factory floor with storage rack. That's the sign of great materials management.

    A couple weeks ago, I talked about how we made some changes at Robroy when I first took over as president and COO. One of the first things we did was to do completely change our factory layout. When I first got there, the company and the plant was 40 years old. When the plant

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  • Improve Productivity and Morale by Reducing Interruptions

    • February 15, 2017
    • Posted by: David Marshall
    • Category: Innovation, Manufacturing, Measurement
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    Keep your associates more vested in their work by keeping their machines running, and help them feel valued.

    There are a number of factors that go into improving productivity of your associates, and by extension, your plant workflow. Not only do you get more things done, but you can make your associates happier to boot. Keeping associates productive throughout their shift with as few interruptions as possible actually enhances morale, and makes their

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  • How Document Management Improves Productivity, Lowers Costs

    • December 21, 2016
    • Posted by: David Marshall
    • Category: Innovation, Measurement, Productivity
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    Rows of filing cabinets. Document management rendered these a thing of the past.

    I remember during my career, years ago, when everything was done on paper. We saved all memos, letters, and faxes sent or received. Saving all that correspondence was a major undertaking, as was the paperwork we kept whenever we hired someone. Add in the normal paperwork of a manufacturing operation, and things really started to

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  • Can a Warehouse Management System Fix Your Inventory Accuracy?

    • December 14, 2016
    • Posted by: David Marshall
    • Category: Business, Innovation
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    Warehouse with forktrucks

    A warehouse management system may seem like a panacea to a lot of problems, but they can’t fix anything. They can’t fix your inventory management issues, or solve your accuracy problems, or make shipments take less time. Not until you have done two important steps: Changed your organizational behaviors. Reviewed, validated, and changed all processes

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