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Daily industrial news and top headlines for plant and maintenance managers
Crowdfunding Fuels Innovation
December 11, 2012 8:09 am | by Ryan Sauer | CommentsWhile it continues to be controversial in more conservative investment circles, crowdfunding is on its way to becoming a major source of venture capital for upstart companies. With passage of the JOBS Act in April of this year, President Barack Obama and the U.S. Congress cleared the way for crowdfunding to be both legal and regulated.
A Tour Of Methods
December 11, 2012 8:06 am | by Alan Nicol, Executive Member, AlanNicolSolutions | CommentsEstablish a culture of continuous improvement around a central, common method for solving problems. Adopt one of the common or popular ones, or use them as inspiration for your own. Each organization has its own culture. It is a natural phenomenon of any group of social creatures. We can either let our culture form around us as it may, or we can deliberately cultivate it to be what we desire.
Demystifying Monte Carlo
December 7, 2012 8:09 am | by Alan Nicol, Executive Member, AlanNicolSolutions | CommentsA very powerful, but little used, statistical modeling method is Monte Carlo Simulation. Read on to see how practical and simple it can be to predict the outcome of a design before it is complete. One of my favorite tools, garnered from practicing Design for Six Sigma, is the Monte Carlo Simulation method.
Addition, Subtraction, Division
December 3, 2012 12:07 pm | by Krystal Gabert, Editor, Food Manufacturing | CommentsFood processing mergers and acquisitions can be rough water to navigate, especially for plant floor employees and plant managers who initially might seem immune to the effects of such high-level corporate decisions. Recent changes at Kraft Foods Group and others can be instructive for those undergoing corporate changes in their own companies.
Perfect Experiences Are Ruining Tech Education
December 3, 2012 11:05 am | by Joel Hans, Managing Editor, Manufacturing.net | CommentsBetter, and more polished, interfaces make it easier for more people to sit back and play iOS games or watch something on Netflix, they also create a dangerous abstraction — a distance between the user and the actual technology that functions it.
The Importance of Learning Styles In Training
December 3, 2012 11:04 am | by Mike Collins, Author, Saving American Manufacturing | CommentsI have always been interested in learning styles and how people learn. If you read the literature on this subject, there is a lot of academic research on everything from neuro-linguistic programming to basic cognitive skills. Academics don’t seem to agree on a particular model, and appear to love writing theoretical research papers more than finding practical applications for education and training.
My First Trade Show & The Digital Revolution
November 30, 2012 8:08 am | by Abbigail Kriebs, Associate Editor, Industrial Distribution | CommentsFor companies in modern America and across the globe, the digital revolution is every bit as unsettling today as the financial crisis was in 2008. The ways in which we interact today are so different from what we have encountered in the past. Social media has given corporations and their products a face of their own; a presence that people can interact with and relate to, for better or for worse.
Satisfying Policy Is A Source of Problems
November 28, 2012 8:09 am | by Alan Nicol, Executive Member, AlanNicolSolutions LLC | CommentsA simple way to identify the opportunities to make your organization operate more efficiently, with less wasted time and energy and money, is to seek out the connections between policy and process, and then simplify. To solve various problems, we only need to simplify the means by which we satisfy policy. The easier it is the fewer problems we will have.
On Disclosing ‘Conflict Minerals’
November 26, 2012 8:09 am | by Joel Hans, Managing Editor, Manufacturing.net | CommentsFrench thinks “there’s going to be a lot of information technology costs associated with this,” in terms of leveraging big data and supply chain software to help better understand the sourcing picture. He also thinks that as more major manufacturers try to move toward conflict-free minerals, prices of those mined ethically could rise, leading to higher inbound costs for all companies.
Kickstart Your Heart
November 21, 2012 8:06 am | by David Mantey, Executive Editor, Product Design & Development | CommentsIt’s time to embrace the power of Kickstarter.com and like-minded sites that offer a crowdsourcing funding platform for new products attempting to enter the market. While the site is used to fund everything from films and music to new technology, Kickstarter has become a force to be reckoned with when it comes to the world of engineering start-ups.
Achieve Excellence And Make Better Decisions In 2013
November 20, 2012 8:07 am | by Mark Humphlett, Director, Infor | CommentsBy automating and streamlining processes from department to department or person to person, you create a holistic, integrated decision-making environment, where you can make proactive operational decisions at every level of your business.
America, The Blend Hub
November 20, 2012 8:06 am | by Mike Rainone, Co-founder, PCDworks | CommentsI’m beginning to think that a key to more American jobs could be a closer connection between European and American businesses — if we can only understand what it is that makes our nation an attractive place to do business. To get a little context, let me share my recent experiences, and examine the lessons that might be learned from them.
Creativity And The Organization
November 9, 2012 4:09 pm | by Mike Collins, Author, Saving American Manufacturing | CommentsI believe that creativity can’t happen without changing from a rigid organization that depends on control, rules, and a formal structure to a flexible and less formalized organization where employees are encouraged to take risks, experiment, and question the status quo without reprisal.
Choose Your Weapons!
November 9, 2012 8:08 am | by Alan Nicol, Executive Member, AlanNicolSolutions | CommentsThe right improvement methodology for you is the one that will defeat your greatest enemy. Most of us can name at least a generous handful of different improvement methodologies that have stayed for a while or come and gone quickly. With so much of a fad phenomenon in the improvement methodology track record, how do we choose one to adopt for our own needs?
Business On The Move, And Across The Globe
November 7, 2012 5:19 pm | by Anna Wells, Executive Editor, IMPO | CommentsFor many of us, mobility is not some massive undertaking, full of risk and implementation time, rather an opportunity to fire off a few time-sensitive emails from the airport or view the inventory levels in our warehouse when a customer asks us about delivery timelines. It's about visibility, efficiency, and actionable business transactions — and it's time we shine our light on the benefits rather than just the expenses.
