Best Practices
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Daily industrial news and top headlines for plant and maintenance managers
Performance Plans Create Results, Maximize Performance
April 12, 2013 8:00 am | by Timothy F. Bednarz, Ph.D., Author & Publisher, Majorium Business Press | Articles | CommentsA performance plan differs from a conventional plan in that it is a proactive document. It is designed for continuous use throughout the year as a guide and reference tool to direct the leader and his or her unit's activities. The primary purpose of a performance plan is to create results and maximize performance.
Manufacturers: Tax Hikes In Budget Hurt Competitiveness
April 10, 2013 12:17 pm | by National Association of Manufacturers | News | CommentsNational Association of Manufacturers (NAM) Vice President of Tax and Domestic Economic Policy Dorothy Coleman issued a statement in response to the release of the President’s budget for fiscal year 2014. The statement indicates how NAM thinks the budget will influence manufacturing.
Reduce Electronic Waste Heat Without Breaking The Budget
April 5, 2013 3:13 pm | by Kimberley Dawn, CEO, Noren Products | Articles | CommentsThermal management has been one of the primary concerns for today’s industrial facilities that must rely on maximum performance of sophisticated and highly advanced computers and components. Excess heat generated by electronics, if left unchecked, can damage the effectiveness of components and other intricate equipment inside panels and enclosures.
Manufacturing American Efficiency
April 5, 2013 2:35 pm | by Rachel Leisemann Immel, Associate Editor, IMPO | Articles | CommentsThe majority of today’s LED solutions are not produced in America. And for the first five years of doing business, that was true for NEUTEX Advanced Energy Group as well. Headquartered in Houston, NEUTEX has become one of a list of companies that have recently moved operations to the U.S. from overseas. Today, the company is developing its Houston presence as it positions itself as a leading manufacturer of LED lighting.
Basic Failure Analysis Workshop
April 3, 2013 4:56 pm | by Reliability Center, Inc. | EventsThis training is intended to provide facility personnel with the requisit skills and knowldge to eliminate the problems and chronic failures they are experiencing everyday on the job. The unique 4-step process guides the user through the technique of solving problems and failures down to their root causes(s) using real world examples.
Virtualization In Manufacturing
April 3, 2013 8:00 am | by Manufacturing Business Technology | Articles | CommentsManufacturing Business Technology took time to talk to Frank Hill, director of manufacturing business development, Stratus Technologies, about virtualization. Hill explains what it is, how virtualization can help manufacturers take advantage of the processing power they may already have, and how to mitigate some of the risk facing companies every day.
April 2013 - BMW Reports Record Production
April 1, 2013 10:56 am | Digital Editions | CommentsIn this issue, BMW Manufacturing reports record production volume, NEUTEX Advanced Energy Groups positions itself as a leading American manufacturer of LED lighting, industry experts talk the true value of anti-seize, manufacturers and distributors step up to tackle the skill gap in welding, and more.
Make RCA Easier With PROACT Templates Webinar
March 29, 2013 2:31 pm | by Reliability Center, Inc. | EventsWhere do you start in an analysis and how do you streamline and manage this process? Beat 'paralysis by analysis' with this valuable webinar where you will learn RCI's proven methods and tools that work! It's easy to become overwhelmed with so much information and so many options that one doesn't know where to start and how to keep it all organized.
Industry PROACT® RCA Workshop
March 28, 2013 2:15 pm | by Reliability Center, Inc. | EventsUncover the REAL Roots of your Problems. While most investigation techniques stop at the physical cause of failure PROACT® takes the analysis into the human and latent issues in the cause and effect relationship. By going down into these more significant issues (the reasons why people are making the mistakes they are making) many hidden failures that have yet to manifest themselves are eliminated.
Transforming Business In Manufacturing
March 28, 2013 9:10 am | Videos | CommentsFor manufacturers, competitive advantage lies in connecting equipment on the factory floor to backend systems to harness real-time data. Windows Embedded GM Barb Edson, Microsoft CTO for Manufacturing Rohit Bhargava, and ARC Advisory Group analyst Craig Resnick join GigaOM Research's Adam Lesser to discuss how intelligent systems drive operational efficiency and new business opportunities in manufacturing.
Human Error Reduction Workshop
March 27, 2013 3:24 pm | by Reliability Center, Inc. | EventsThis training provides attendees with the requisite skills and knowledge necessary to provide a rigorous understanding of human performance that will result in significantly reduced human errors and improved operational excellence in the workplace. this will answer the question "why" it happened.
Beware The Ill-Planned Innovative Rollout
March 25, 2013 9:00 am | by Moe Glenner, President, PURELogistics | Blogs | CommentsIt happens repeatedly. A company adopts a new technology platform that ostensibly will ease the workload, streamline operational processes and result in overall gains in efficiency and budget spending. The intention is spot-on but the execution is decidedly less so.
Basic Failure Analysis Workshop
March 22, 2013 5:15 pm | by Reliability Center, Inc. | EventsThis training is intended to provide facility personnel with the requisit skills and knowldge to eliminate the problems and chronic failures they are experiencing everyday on the job.
March 2013 iPurchase
March 20, 2013 11:44 am | Digital Editions | CommentsWalk through the latest trends in safety equipment and compliance issues relating to the manufacturing environment, including an analysis on investment requirements for meeting regulations, a look at how new PPE design elements translate to better adoption on the plant floor, a review of recent safety disasters, and an outline of resources that can help manufacturers continuously improve their safety programs.
Detroit Emergency Manager Warns Against Bankruptcy
March 15, 2013 10:20 am | by Corey Williams, Associated Press | News | CommentsThe turnaround expert who represented Chrysler during its successful restructuring is taking on one of the toughest fiscal tasks anywhere in the country: Fixing Detroit. Kevyn Orr, hired Thursday as Detroit's emergency manager, brings expertise from his work at one of the world's largest law firms plus the threat of Chapter 9 bankruptcy, which he says favors cities like Detroit when it comes to erasing debt.
Learn From Success Too
March 15, 2013 9:00 am | by Alan Nicol, Executive Member, AlanNicolSolutions | Blogs | CommentsAs we immerse ourselves in continuous process improvement, we get in the habit of tearing down and examining everything that doesn’t meet expectations, go according to plan, or work efficiently enough. We get so focused on what’s broken, we forget to take time to figure out how we do the occasional thing exactly right.
100 Percent Lean Beans
March 12, 2013 4:09 pm | by Anna Wells, Executive Editor, IMPO | Articles | CommentsThe Starbucks Carson Valley Roasting Plant & Distribution Center crew will tell you everything you need to know about how roasting and brewing methods affect the flavor of coffee in so many ways. And just as the smallest of modifications can dramatically affect the flavor of the cup, Starbucks Carson Valley has learned that – likewise – small steps towards continuous improvement can yield returns.
Lessons From The Cupping Room
March 12, 2013 4:01 pm | by Anna Wells, Executive Editor, IMPO | Blogs | CommentsThe Starbucks Carson Valley Roasting Plant and Distribution Center looks swanky, with its glass-lined exterior; perched atop the entry is the familiar green siren logo. Like millions of Americans, I’ve become accustomed to taking my caffeine on the run, and Starbucks is one of the haunts on my regular route.
Toyota Chief Stresses Safe Growth
March 8, 2013 10:20 am | by Yuri Kageyama, AP Business Writer | News | CommentsAfter four tumultuous years bookended by an unprecedented recall crisis and a return to the top of the global auto industry, Akio Toyoda is refashioning Toyota Motor Corp. into a leaner company that's more imbued with the venture spirit of founder Kiichiro Toyoda, his grandfather.
Integrating LEAN Process Improvement
March 8, 2013 9:29 am | by Stephen J. Benefield, enVista | Articles | CommentsStrong executive commitment is of upmost importance when implementing any continuous improvement process such as LEAN or Six Sigma. It is important to ensure executive commitment by aligning and reporting results using current corporate measures and strategic initiatives.
Successfully Implementing A Condition Monitoring Program, Part 2
March 6, 2013 8:00 am | by Trent Phillips, LUDECA | Articles | CommentsAfter the proper groundwork has been completed, it is time to build the database for your CM technology. You should be able to easily copy and paste the equipment templates previously created and assign them to the actual equipment you will be monitoring.
Successfully Implementing A Condition Monitoring Program, Part 1
March 5, 2013 8:00 am | by Trent Phillips, LUDECA | Articles | CommentsSelection of a condition monitoring (CM) technology is not an easy task and requires that many concerns be taken into consideration. Determination of what functionality is needed, selection of a technology provider that can deliver the required technology, and an available budget are all critical considerations to think about before making a purchase.
I’m Doing This, And You’re Coming With Me
March 4, 2013 8:00 am | by Alan Nicol, Executive Member, AlanNicolSolutions | Blogs | CommentsAccepting the axiom that business and process improvement is fundamentally an outcome of changed behavior, we must address how to lead a change in behavior.If you follow my posts, then you have come to expect me to assert, repeatedly, that behavioral change is the key to successful performance improvement.
March 2013 - Robotic Efficiencies
March 1, 2013 4:42 pm | Digital Editions | CommentsIn this issue see how Starbucks' continuous improvement philosophy earns an AME Manufacturing Excellence Award, learn how mobile access to maintenance could mean easier troubleshooting, check out the 2013 Industrial Web Directory, and more.
Manufacturing & Economy Are At A Precipice
February 25, 2013 8:08 am | Blogs | CommentsNational Association of Manufacturers (NAM) President and CEO Jay Timmons delivered a speech on the state of manufacturing at the Detroit Economic Club. His address touched on what manufacturing has meant to America’s past and focused on how critically important it is to our nation’s present and future.
