Category Archives: Manufacturing

Post Number 1,000

Posted on April 29, 2008 by John Hunter

This is the 1,000th post to the Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog. Here are some highlights: Post number 2: Dangers of Forgetting the Proxy Nature of Data – “We use data to act as a proxy for some results of the system. Often people forget that the desired end result is not for the number to be improved but for the situation to be improved.” Most viewed post: Eliminate Slogans – management by slogan is not an effective management strategy … Continue reading →

Posted in curiouscat.com, Deming, Health care, Management, Manufacturing | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Gary Convis is the New CEO of Dana

Posted on April 17, 2008 by John Hunter

Another former Toyota USA leader is talking a leading role at another company. Gary Convis from Toyota retired last year. Related: articles by Gary Convis – Toyota Management Speech by Gary Convis – Toyota Management Develops the New Camry – Quality Conversation with Gary Convis – Jim Press, Toyota N. American President, Moves to Chrysler Dana Holding Corporation Names Gary L. Convis Chief Executive Officer Dana Holding Corporation (NYSE: DAN) emerged from bankruptcy recently and today announced that it has … Continue reading →

Posted in Lean thinking, Management, Manufacturing, Toyota Production System (TPS) | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Toyota Building Second Plant in India

Posted on April 11, 2008 by John Hunter

Toyota is investing $350 million in a second Indian manufacturing plant. The plant is focused on producing vehicles for the local market – as the Toyota Production System suggests that production be close to the market. Toyota to invest Rs1,400 crore for “strategic” small car in India The new plant will have a production capacity of 100,000 units and will become operational by 2010, he added. The company’s current plant has a capacity of 63,000 units a year. The plant … Continue reading →

Posted in India, Manufacturing, Toyota Production System (TPS) | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Manufacturing Employee Shortage in Utah

Posted on April 3, 2008 by John Hunter

Utah scrambling to meet need for technical workers The state faces challenges in generating necessary interest to fill available manufacturing jobs for what Utah’s governor has called the state’s “Aerospace Hub,” both immediately and in the future, the report said. The situation continues to worsen, with jobs being created and unemployment remaining low in the state. And as the current work force ages, the supply of skilled workers is diminishing, forcing employers to recruit outside of Utah and sometimes leave … Continue reading →

Posted in Career, Manufacturing, Public Sector | Tagged , ,

Popular Mechanics: Made in the USA

Posted on February 19, 2008 by John Hunter

Five American Manufacturers Doing It Right America’s manufacturing sales stagnated at the $4 trillion mark in the late 1990s. But then something surprising happened. America started selling again—finding more customers for tractors, steel, plastics, knives and medicines than ever before. Manufacturing sales hit a record $5 trillion in 2006, according to the U.S. Census Bureau … “Our biggest advantage is manufacturing in the United States,” … “If Circuit City wants more of a certain set in three weeks, we couldn’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Management, Manufacturing

Top 10 Manufacturing Countries 2006

Posted on January 15, 2008 by John Hunter

Here is updated data from the UN on manufacturing output by country. China continues to grow amazingly moving into second place for 2006. I plan to write more on this data in the Curious Cat Investing and Economics Blog. UN Data, in billions of current US dollars:

Posted in China, Economics, India, Manufacturing, quote | 4 Comments

Engineering Innovation for Manufacturing and the Economy

Posted on November 11, 2007 by John Hunter

Editorial: Engineering Innovation, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: They are the invisible heroes in business, the men and women who make innovation possible. They are people like Mary Ann Wright at Johnson Controls in Milwaukee, the former chief engineer for the Ford Escape hybrid who is leading a team bent on establishing world leadership in hybrid battery systems. Or Werner Zobel, a Modine Manufacturing engineer working in Germany who hatched the idea for a new cooling system that the Racine-based company believes … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Lean thinking, Management, Manufacturing, Public Sector, Science, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Strategic Deployment: How To Think Like Toyota

Posted on October 24, 2007 by John Hunter

Strategic Deployment: How To Think Like Toyota: Hoshin kanri is fundamental to Toyota’s success today, says Dennis, currently an instructor at the Lean Enterprise Institute. He says Toyota’s ability to grasp the situation, identify two or three obstacles, develop meaningful plans to address those obstacles, and deploy them “is outstanding.” Another company using strategy deployment, HNI Corp., has used a policy deployment mechanism for more than a decade. The office furniture manufacturer, an IndustryWeek Best Manufacturing Company for five consecutive … Continue reading →

Posted in Management, Management Articles, Manufacturing, Toyota Production System (TPS)

Manufacturing Takes off in India

Posted on October 22, 2007 by John Hunter

Manufacturing takes off in India by John Elliott: The sleek, clean factory in the Delhi suburb of Noida seems more Taiwan than India. Engineers in white overalls and goggles watch over an automated production line that spits out four billion state-of-the-art DVDs and CDs a year. To get to the factory floor, you have to pass through three air-cleaning passages – a process that makes it clear you’re no longer in crowded, dirty Delhi. This is not some futuristic vision … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, India, Manufacturing | 3 Comments

Danaher Expands Lean Thinking One Acquisition at a Time

Posted on September 24, 2007 by John Hunter

Sybron Focuses on Operations Nearly 18 months into becoming part of Danaher Corp., life is different at Sybron Dental Specialties Inc. “Sybron was really a sales and marketing focused organization … and operations (were) part of supporting that,” said Don Tuttle, president of specialty products for Sybron, which is moving from Orange to Anaheim next year. “What Danaher brought to us, and has been successful with, is bringing us an operations focus.” Sybron has adopted principles known as Danaher Business … Continue reading →

Posted in Investing, Lean thinking, Management, Management Articles, Manufacturing

TVS Group Director on India – Manufacturing, Economy…

Posted on July 28, 2007 by John Hunter

TVS group companies, based in India, have been awarded 5 Deming Prizes. He discusses Deming and quality a bit. He also discusses their experiences in manufacturing in China and the strengths they have found in each country. And he discusses the Indian economy and manufacturing.

Related: Hopeful About India’s Manufacturing Sector – Toyota Chairman Comments on India and Thailand Continue reading →

Posted in China, Deming, Economics, India, Management, Manufacturing, webcast | Tagged ,

New Articles on Toyota Management

Posted on July 8, 2007 by John Hunter

Harvard Business Review has a new article on Toyota that both the Elegant Solutions blog (by Matthew E. May author of Elegant Solutions: Toyota’s Formula for Mastering Innovation – via: lean blog) and Got Boondoggle, have raved about. Amazing HBR Interview with Toyota President Watanabe on Elegant Solutions: Pick up the latest issue of Harvard Business Review (July/August double issue) for a real treat: a fantastic interview with Toyota President Katsuaki Watanabe. This is a ground-breaking piece of journalism and … Continue reading →

Posted in Lean thinking, Management, Management Articles, Manufacturing, Toyota Production System (TPS) | 2 Comments

At Ford, Quality Was Our Motto in the 1980s

Posted on June 22, 2007 by John Hunter

Former Ford President responds to the Wall Street Journal with At Ford, Quality Was Our Motto in the 1980s: I strongly disagree with a statement in “Detroit Pursues Sweeping Cuts in Union Talks” (page one, June 14), that the Big Three U.S. automakers “allowed quality to deteriorate in the 1980s,” at least as it applies to Ford Motor Co. I was first president, then chairman and CEO of Ford in those years, and my major undertaking was to make significant … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Management, Manufacturing | 3 Comments

Louisville Slugger – Deming Practices

Posted on May 24, 2007 by John Hunter

In 2004 I was part of a group to put together a 2 1/2 Day seminar for the Deming Institute (recent seminar in Michigan). We held that meeting at the Louisville Slugger plant (see photo). It was a great experience. If you find yourself in the area they offer tours of the plant [the broken link was removed]. This article discusses the efforts at Louisville Slugger: The sweet spot [the broken link was removed]: “You would have thought that in … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Management, Manufacturing | Tagged , | 1 Comment

The Triumph of Lean Production

Posted on April 10, 2007 by John Hunter

The triumph of lean production by Steve Schifferes Laura pulls a cord, stopping the production line – and prompting her five fellow workers on trim line three to crowd round. They soon see why it is not screwed in properly and fix the problem. “I don’t like to let something like that go,” she says. “That’s really important for people who buy our cars.” Workers at the Toyota plant in Georgetown, Kentucky, pull the cord 2,000 times a week – … Continue reading →

Posted in Lean thinking, Management, Management Articles, Manufacturing, Toyota Production System (TPS)

Western Trailers – Lean Manufacturing

Posted on April 9, 2007 by John Hunter

Western Trailers improves efficiency – with some help [the broken link was removed]: Western Trailers President Jerry Whitehead and a couple of other senior managers went through TechHelp’s lean-manufacturing course a few years ago. Now, the company is paying for all of the approximately 50 supervisors at the 225-employee manufacturing plant to go through a new and more intense version. “It’s just good manufacturing, getting the waste out,” Panter said. There’s a need for greater efficiency, especially as companies get … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Lean thinking, Management, Manufacturing