You’ve canceled meetings, you have people working from home, and sickness and absence rates are higher than usual due to Covid-19: tough times indeed, especially for anyone running a manufacturing business. Customers are understanding but finished parts and products must still ship, especially if needed for essential medical equipment. These…
Manufacturing has always been the backbone of industry in America, often stepping up when our country needs it most. During World War II many factories converted their lines to produce military equipment, transportation and ammunition. As we are engulfed in a global pandemic, Manufacturers are, yet again, re-tooling and re-positioning…
CNC machines cut away metal and make money, but they can’t do that if they’re not running. How do you know if they’re running? Managing By Walking About is one approach, machine monitoring is a better one. Machine monitoring shows how production equipment is being utilized at any moment in…
Using visual and auditory cues an experienced Manufacturing Manager can often sense when a factory is running well. Silence means no production. No workers present, no production. It’s an informal, and highly subjective, form of machine monitoring with “data” obtained through “Managing By Walking About” (MBWA.) The practice has much to recommend…
Imagine driving a car where the dashboard reports yesterday’s speed and distance covered. It sounds bizarre yet that’s how many Operations and Production Managers run their factories. They know output and OEE numbers for the previous day, but that’s of little help in maximizing performance today. What they need are…
