Vendors of time and attendance and workforce management software tell a good tale when it comes to manufacturing business improvement, but what is the real value? Brian Tinham talks to enlightened manufacturers
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Lean thinking, as opposed to lean manufacturing - meaning 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.
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Bury St Edmonds-based sensors and transmitters maker Amot, which turns over £14m, is reaping the reward of a top-to-bottom manufacturing ERP implementation that's dealing with its need for mass customisation, while also managing the shopfloor and providing supply chain e-business support.
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Few today are caught in the balance between meteoric growth and collapse as finely as telecoms firms. Brian Tinham looks at how one high flying opto-electronics firm is setting itself up for the big time
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‘Improve your supply chain’ is becoming a tired exhortation; most of us know it needs to be done, but what? And where’s the detail? Brian Tinham reports on the way forward from the MCS Forum
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Getting agile and lean if you’re an SME is not just about things like reducing inventory, or planning better. Today it’s also about working much more collaboratively with your customers and suppliers using integrated web technologies. Frank Booty reports
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Facing outstanding growth, Pace Micro Technology, which makes TV digital set-top boxes for the burgeoning world market, needed to rewrite its IT infrastructure. Brian Tinham reports on an outstanding success
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When Madras and Nottingham Lace maker Morton, Young and Borland needed to transform itself for the 21st Century, it implemented integrated IT without losing its craft foundations. Brian Tinham reports.
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