Our passion is in helping manufacturers excel operationally with the right demand-driven pull strategies regardless of industry. We stay abreast of the latest Lean and Six Sigma best practices and bring you practical applications of these right here in our white papers. If there are specific topics you would like to see covered, please drop us a note by clicking on the email us link above.
Lean Metrics: Is It Time To Replace Your Metrics?
[Executive Brief] Manufacturing executives continue to face pressure to improve performance. Many are facing eroding margins,shortened product life cycles,product proliferation, and are searching for ways to maintain a competitive advantage. Every manufacturer is looking to...
The Challenges of Implementing Lean in a High Mix Environment
[Executive Brief] The bulk of successful Lean implementations are in high volume, repetitive environments like automotive companies. Nevertheless, Lean Manufacturing has grown beyond traditional high volume automotive environments into industries as diverse as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, aircraft manufacturing, electronics, and industrial products...
ERP Needs Help Getting Lean
[Executive Brief] ERP is limited in its ability to manage waste and cycle time, and tends to push products regardless of inventory levels. With ERP alone, Manufacturing companies are unable to leverage Lean techniques to improve performance. Here's why....
Top 10 Lean Myths, Misunderstandings, and Mistakes
[White Paper] It’s an undertaking many manufacturers are pursuing yet too few have attained: utilizing Lean to improve profitability, competitiveness,and operational excellence. One reason for the lack of success is due to several inaccuracies that exist around implementing Lean.Written for manufacturing executives and plant managers, this paper examines ten of the top myths,misunderstandings, and mistakes surrounding Lean, particularly in high-mix, complex manufacturing environments.
Throughput Takes Off with Invistics Methodology and Software
[Case Study] Learn how this metals manufacturer overcame their challenges including rising inventory levels, mediocre customer satisfaction scores and constant production bottlenecks using the Invistics methodology and software solution to implement Lean manufacturing techniques and significantly improve performance.
Switching to Pull-Based Inventory Optimization
[Tools and Tips] You've completed the process of finding the right flavor of Pull for your plant. The pilot program was a success but you know that you'll need to scale to additional products and/or to additional sites, perhaps even to include raw materials suppliers or finished goods at your customers. You realize that the process will soon outgrow spreadsheets and now have to undertake the process of finding a more scalable and sustainable alternative.
Redefining Operational Excellence for High-Mix Manufacturers - NEW
[White Paper] Manufacturers today are under tremendous pressure to increase profitability and demonstrate stakeholder return on investment (ROI). In order to meet these objectives and stay competitive in the global economy, executives are once again focusing on optimizing their manufacturing and supply chain networks. By redefining optimal manufacturing operations, manufacturers are meeting-- and exceeding--business objectives.
Plant Defuses Exploding Cycle Times with Invistics Methodology and Software
[Case Study] With cycle times spiraling out of control, excessive inventory and missed shipments becoming a recurring event, this pharmaceutical manufacturer had its hands full. Learn how deploying the Invistics methodology and MachSix software helped them significantly increase production volume without increasing space or workforce.
Inventory Gets Lean with MachSix Methodology & Software
[Case Study] Working with Invistics, this pharmaceutical manufacturer progressed from imminent shut down to receiving industry recognition as a best-in-class facility.
Supercharging ERP for Performance In Complex Environments
[White Paper] This paper describes the business drivers behind the escalating concerns about manufacturing performance and how performance optimization solutions can extend ERP to not only drive, but also sustain improvements in key performance indicators.
Strengths and Limitations of Classic Kanban in High-Mix Manufacturing
[Executive Brief] Classic Kanban has stood the test of time as the preferred method of pull for high volume manufacturing environments because of its simplicity and flexibility. This Executive Brief explores the limitations of Classic Kanban in complex manufacturing environments.
Optimizing Flow for Lean or Pull Manufacturing - ARC Advisory Group Report
[Analyst Report] Traditional materials management uses forecasts and planning systems to divine a production schedule that push material through a plant. This “push” approach tends to create queues, with large batches slowly moving through production. This report explores a “pull” approach to production and manufacturing operations and how it can improve inventory, labor, and on-time shipments even for manufacturers with high-mix product lines.
Lean Metrics: Motivating the Behaviors that Drive Performance Improvements
[White Paper] This paper describes how leading companies utilize lean metrics that motivate improvements in manufacturing performance. Specifically, it focused on how companies develop and deploy metrics that will increase throughput while decreasing operating expenses and assets such as inventory.
Four Flavors of Pull Manufacturing for Getting and Staying Lean
[White Paper] James Womack, Daniel Jones and Daniel Roos used the Toyota Production System as a framework to popularize Lean Manufacturing with their bestselling book, "The Machine that Changed the World: The Story of Lean Production." Womack, Jones and Roos introduced the five principles of “Lean thinking”: specify value, identify value stream, make value flow, let customers pull and pursue perfection. It is the fourth of those principles that this paper addresses.
Processing Lean: Modifying Traditional Techniques for Complex Environments
[White Paper] This paper describes how to improve manufacturing performance in a complex environment using lean manufacturing techniques. It concentrates on how complex environments are different from high volume environments, and therefore; require extensions to traditional lean manufacturing techniques via flow path management.
