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A uniform approach
Looking down from the Lean Summit, in the company of luxury car makers and fighters of flaccid foot drop, you could still see the odd sniper – but the popular front for lean manufacturing is definitely winning the war against corporate terrorism. |
15/04/2008
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Bridging the divide
Any TPM programme stands or falls by the relationship between maintenance engineers and machine operators. Annie Gregory asks how you can undo the animosity of generations |
20/03/2008
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Salute to safety
How many ‘S’s make five? As Annie Gregory discovers, it’s
the extra Ss that change the workplace forever |
21/01/2008
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Stick or carrot?
After the lean factory comes the lean supply chain. But how do you get your suppliers to mirror your own improvements?
Annie Gregory looks at the balance between ‘stick and carrot’ |
20/11/2007
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It pays to listen
Talking at your workforce is easy; listening is much harder. Handled well, suggestion schemes and opinion surveys make for a happier, more innovative workplace. Annie Gregory finds out how to get them right |
15/10/2007
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No short circuit to top performance
There are various measures to track performance – but all routes should lead to the same point. John Dwyer looks at the measures that keep customers satisfied |
19/09/2007
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All-round improvements
Total productive maintenance (TPM) can make a huge difference – not only in terms of machine uptime, but also in shopfloor engagement, as Chris Rowlands discovers |
16/07/2007
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Untangle the war on waste
Value stream mapping is certainly a powerful tool but do people overcomplicate what’s involved? As Annie Gregory discovers, if you are being strangled by the string and suffocated by the Post-Its, the answer is probably ‘yes’ |
18/05/2007
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Lean supply chain
There was a time when e-business was for the big boys. But Howard Joseph of McGuffie Brunton tells Brian Tinham that the doors are now wide open for manufacturing SMEs |
11/04/2007
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Clean up
If you think 5S is merely a more formal way of keeping the shopfloor tidy, it’ll collapse. John Dwyer talks to practitioners and consultants about why the initiative matters and how to keep it going |
14/03/2007
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No soft soap
Good workplace communications aren't about keeping the bad news to yourself, says John Dwyer, who relates how one company's sights are focused strictly on its people. |
21/02/2007
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Seeing is believing
Current thinking is encouraging investment in production systems that can improve company-wide visibility and flexibility, as well as factory performance. It’s about enabling more agile business able to respond more quickly and positively to customers’ changing requirements, market trends and new opportunities – as well as delivering manufacturing efficiencies and cost cutting. In short, systems that don’t just optimise at the plant level or take care of supply chain operations and events, although both remain important, but that facilitate joined-up business decision-making and actions. There are several types of system that go some way to fitting the bill, but for me – given the nature of most manufacturers’ existing ERP installations and the prevalence of MRPII for planning, alongside a mix of spreadsheets and shop floor data collection (SFDC) and production management systems handling the rest – APS (advanced planning and scheduling) systems remain among the most compelling. |
15/01/2007
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Go for a much, much better lean
Many manufacturers are struggling to get their lean/APS (advanced planning and scheduling) and Heijunka strategies right because of the pressures they are under to conform to practices that, according to Preactor International’s technical director Graham Hackwell, are too proscriptive and, frankly, just not working. |
28/11/2006
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Just a minute
The case for faster changeovers is compelling: the business becomes more efficient and ultimately more responsive. Chris Rowlands finds out how manufacturers can get into pole position and squeeze all the benefit from this basic lean technique |
01/11/2006
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Cosworth makes team working world class
Northampton-based race engine developer Cosworth has created a common information window for engineering, purchasing and suppliers that’s transformed its business operations. The firm implemented Documentum’s eRoom, initially for exchanging CAD information but is now enabling collaboration with customers and suppliers way beyond design. According to Cosworth head of business systems Jeremy Hill, the system, which has about 200 users internally and 100 customers and suppliers, is delivering huge benefits. “Things are so much more organised and clear. It would be a shock to see how much we’ve saved: for example, it’s probably more than doubled the effectiveness of our processes.” |
04/10/2006
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Seeing is believing
Keep it simple. We all know it makes sense, but how seriously do we take this mantra? |
01/10/2006
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Distilling the secrets of a spirited success
Whisky producer Ian Macleod Distillers, deserves its place here, not only for its products, which include Glengoyne and Isle of Skye, but for an ERP implementation that turned two companies around, and has already saved £500,000 worth of finished goods and materials stocks – at least equal to the cost of the entire implementation and with another £1 million of savings still in sight. |
28/09/2006
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Lean success with lean systems
Adding value, cutting costs, improving service: we’ve all got to do them, and lean and IT are the best mechanisms. Brian Tinham reports from the Association for Manufacturing Excellence conference on enabling and improving lean systems |
24/08/2006
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Platflorm one for the lean bandwagon
You’re going to need all the help you can get if you want your lean business transformation to go well. Book onto the Best of British Manufacturing IT Conference now |
17/08/2006
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Special report: Lean and agile thinking - appropriate IT for successful manufacturing businesses
The application of lean concepts, methodologies and supporting tools, techniques and systems to whole businesses, not just to the factory – continues to grow in popularity. As manufacturers experience worsening competitive pressures from rivals in the UK as well as those around the world, management teams seem to be realising that, while ‘going lean’ is neither trivial nor short and sharp, it’s the only way they’re going to survive and hopefully revive their fortunes.
This report examines what’s working, how well, where and under what circumstances. It looks at current preferred lean initiatives across manufacturing industry and across different departments – the choices, uptake, barriers and outcomes – with statistics derived from a comprehensive online survey conducted for Manufacturing Computer Solutions. Importantly, it provides detailed analysis of relevant IT uptake, appropriate application and potential benefits. |
16/08/2006
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Team defines stream
If you want to go lean, value stream mapping is the first step. It may seem daunting but, as Annie Gregory discovers, preparation pays |
01/05/2006
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Mission critical
With the world’s most demanding requirements for maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO), digital design collaboration and track-and-trace, the aerospace and defence sector has it all. Brian Tinham looks at the issues and their solutions |
11/04/2006
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So how good is your planning?
Fire fighting may have a lot going for it from the personal perspective, but it’s no way to run a business. Brian Tinham examines the roles and scope for modern planning and scheduling systems in enabling and underpinning lean initiatives |
11/04/2006
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A new landscape for our IT by 2020
The Economist Intelligence Unit’s Foresight 2020 study sheds useful light on the shape of manufacturing businesses to come – and their IT and application environments |
10/04/2006
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