Safety, Icebergs and Business Profitability
The goal in manufacturing is to SAFELY make an end product that meets customer specifications with the lowest cost possible. There is nothing more important than the safety of the employees. But even looking beyond the employee, having a strong safety culture also...
How Do You Manage Your Process?
WITH RIGIDITY OR FLEXIBILITY? One of the reasons operators are trained to do a task the same way is to ensure uniformity and reduce process variability. However, this approach may not take into account how operators should react to slight process variations. Yes, we...
Benefits of Defining Your Skills Matrix
Understanding the Learning Continuum I don’t believe that any parent would allow a teenager to drive on a freeway without practice to develop the required skills. Learning to drive needs to be introduced in steps: first, a large parking lot, then maybe some side...
Don’t Be Like Me: Overcoming Obstacles to Effective Training
A number of years ago when I was a "wee little chick", I was called into a room full of managers and told that I had been selected to attend a training. I wasn’t given any of the reasons behind the training, the goals for attending the training or the duration of the...
Data: Another “Sense” for Quantifying Process Improvements
A lot of people claim to have a “6th Sense” when assessing a situation. But, when it comes to making a business investment, having a benchmark and being able to quantify improvements is essential. Making process improvements in your process may require an investment...
It All Starts with One Step: Improving Your Operator Training Program
Most manufacturers will admit that they don’t do a good job training their employees. It isn’t that they don’t see the value, it is rather that the task feels overwhelming and they don’t know where to start. But, like any other journey worth taking, it starts with a...