Manufacturing
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Customer Confidence is Lost or Gained on Product Quality
- May 29, 2019
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Business, Manufacturing, Productivity
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A couple of weeks ago, I talked about how my old company changed an industry-standard method of production and acceptance of product quality by creating our own homegrown manufacturing process and instituting a policy of measuring every step of the process including cleanliness of the raw materials. Before that time, the standard reject rate was
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Four Things to Know Before Undertaking Digital Transformation
- May 22, 2019
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Digital Transformation, Manufacturing
Taking on a digital transformation — not just switching from an analog process to a computerized one — but actually transforming your manufacturing process from a staff-and-labor driven process to one that’s managed more by computers is going to be a serious undertaking. We underwent a digital transformation at a Duoline factory I ran several
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How Measuring Our Process Changed an Industry Standard
- May 15, 2019
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Manufacturing, Measurement
For manufacturing to be consistently accurate, you have to be measuring every point in the process. If each measurement point is not met, the product is a reject because it will not give you the result you’re expecting. So consistent, persistent measurement through the process becomes absolutely essential in order to achieve consistent, persistent excellence.
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Can 3D Printing Change Your ABC Analysis?
- April 24, 2019
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Digital Transformation, Manufacturing
Companies that regularly perform an ABC analysis on their products may be able to change how often they cut their products and reduce their inventory if they could embrace 3D printing. It would help them reduce the amount of inventory and raw materials they store, which could make some nonprofitable items profitable ones. Here’s how.
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How to Use Digital Transformation and Evolution In Your Manufacturing Company
- March 27, 2019
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Digital Transformation, Manufacturing
A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of serving on a panel — Digital Transformation and Plastics Manufacturing — at the Plastics Executive Conference in Naples, Florida. The panel was moderated by my good friend, Nanette Gregory, senior partner at NSG Consulting, and I was joined by Rajiv Menon, founder of Informulate; Gary Stein,
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Panel Discussion: Digital Transformation and Plastics Manufacturing
- March 20, 2019
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Digital Transformation, Leadership, Manufacturing
A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of serving on a panel at the Plastics Executive Conference in Naples, Florida. The panel was entitled Digital Transformation and Plastics Manufacturing, and it was moderated by my good friend, Nanette Gregory, senior partner at NSG Consulting. I was joined by Rajiv Menon, founder of Informulate; Gary
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Making a Case for Technology Skill Schools
- March 13, 2019
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Management, Manufacturing
In Indiana, there’s a rather unusual vocational school called Driver Solutions, a truck driving school where students learn how to properly drive a tractor-trailer rig in three weeks. Students who qualify, and can pass the different drug and health tests, will not only get a job immediately after they graduate, their schooling is paid for.
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Lessons Learned During a Factory Refurbishment
- January 23, 2019
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Innovation, Manufacturing
When we redesigned and refurbished an old fiberglass liner factory, one of my big concerns was worker safety. We had seen a lot of injuries in the plant over the years, and it was not a clean factory to begin with. We wanted something that was cleaner, could operate with fewer associates, and had more
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Why is Automation So Important?
- January 16, 2019
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Manufacturing
As artificial intelligence and machine learning grows by leaps and bounds, and the field of robotics is light years ahead of where it was just ten years ago, industrial automation is becoming a regular part of the manufacturing process, as more companies are embracing a machine-based future. The biggest reason for this sea change is
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What Do You Need on Your Measurement Dashboard?
- January 9, 2019
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Manufacturing, Measurement
I’ve long been a proponent of measuring a company’s efficiency by measuring each employee’s productivity, output, and even their costs. Whether it’s an associate on the floor, an associate in the Accounts Receivable office, or even the President and COO of the entire company, you have to know how well the company is performing in