Category Archives: Manufacturing

3M CEO on Six Sigma

3M in building spree to end capacity constraints 3M should complete the first of an 18-factory build-out in the third quarter, said its chief executive late Tuesday, as it makes up for years of underinvestment on the factory floor – … Continue reading

Posted in Management, Manufacturing, quote, Six sigma, Systems thinking | Tagged | 1 Comment

Top 10 Manufacturing Countries

The newest data from the UN* confirms most of the recent trends in manufacturing output – most notably that China continues to grow dramatically. The data also shows a stagnation in USA manufacturing output over the last several years, though … Continue reading

Posted in China, Data, Economics, India, Manufacturing | Tagged , , , , | 7 Comments

Toyota’s Real Secret?

Well actually it isn’t a secret – it is in fact the Toyota Production/Management System. Maybe, if people assume the TPS is about improvement in the factory alone, then they could miss the true importance as the management system that … Continue reading

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It’s Easy Being Lean

Nice article, nice title too, a bit overoptimistic maybe but still nice πŸ™‚ – It’s Easy Being Lean [the broken link was removed]: The program advocates lean manufacturing, whose main tenet is that the processes used to produce things can … Continue reading

Posted in Lean thinking, Manufacturing | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Reacting to Product Problems

Previously we posted on recalls at Toyota and Sony. Recently Toyota announced another large recall. Investor’s Business Daily writes on the topic in: The Ups And Downs Of Doing Product Recalls – Japan-Style [the broken link was removed]: Kitayama also … Continue reading

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Manufacturing in Asia

The Economist explores the trend to manufacture in Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia… instead of China in: The problem with Made in China: helping China’s share of the world’s exported goods to triple to 7.3% between 1993 and 2005. In comparison, every … Continue reading

Posted in China, Economics, India, Manufacturing | 2 Comments

Fast Company: What drives Toyota?

Very good article – What drives Toyota? [the broken link was removed] by Charles Fishman: So a team of assembly employees made a real decision. Don’t make the worker pick the parts; let him focus on installing them. The idea … Continue reading

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

TPS and Jidoka

TPS & Jidoka, interview of Tomo β€œTom” Harada by Art Smalley: There are two different parts to Jidoka. The first meaning is to separate man from machine. It was normal in the original parent company for a single young woman … Continue reading

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Lean Canadian Company

Lean and mean might not be enough [the broken link was removed] “I wanted all the machines working all the time,” Afeyan said as he watched a worker moving a stack of veneers into position for “cooking” in one of … Continue reading

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Manufacturing Jobs

The article, Manufacturing Lost 3.4 Million Jobs Since 1998 [the broken link was removed], indicates “The increased output should lead to job recovery.” I doubt it. While it is true there is a correlation between output and jobs by far … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Manufacturing | Tagged , , | 4 Comments