A lack of language diversity may be more of a significant concern in the US where language skills are not prioritized within the educational system. As more companies conduct business internationally, a lack of multilingual talent becomes a serious liability which can impact the ability to connect and communicate with potential consumers or clients.
Browsing: Industry Spotlight
Just-In-Time. On the surface, this seems to be a pretty easy concept to understand. Cut inventory down to free up cash and floor space, then time your deliveries so that they can be supplied to the production floor “just-in-time” to be used. Accountants love it because it saves a lot of money, and production types love it because it gives them more floor space to do other things. As long as the proper amount of lead time is figured in, it’s a beautiful system! And it’s wrong.
Savvy machine shops are adding advanced forging equipment to create precision titanium components at a lower cost, in volume. To produce complex titanium parts more cost-effectively, machine shops are increasingly incorporating advanced forging equipment to complement their existing CNC capabilities to create near-net-shaped parts that only require minimal machining. In some cases, the forging process is so precise that no additional machining is required.
While there are many options when selecting a cutting process, none quite match the versatility and flexibility of waterjet cutting. Waterjet cutting is a process that first emerged in the 1800s but has since advanced dramatically. In the 1930’s the waterjet technology was first used outside of the mining industry, in the 1950’s ultra-high pressure water systems were explored, in 1970 the method was commercialized, and, finally, in the 1980s abrasive cutting was developed. These advancements in technology have expanded the use of waterjet cutting and allowed numerous industries to take advantage of the process in their manufacturing operations. Despite being such an exceptional development, many people aren’t aware of the advantages of utilizing waterjet cutting. Keep on reading to learn the top 10 compelling reasons why you need waterjet cutting for your next project!
Back in Q1 Shannon Karels and Kathy Miller released their book, “Steel Toes and Stilettos,” a book about the journey the two manufacturing business leaders went on to transform a traditionally run batch operation into a lean enterprise— characterized by authentic leadership, an inclusive culture, and excellent business results.
As Lean practitioners, we spend a lot of time talking about and focusing the removal of wasteful practices and non-value-added work. This includes everything from moving parts around the shop to routing paperwork through an office – pretty much anything that doesn’t move our product or service closer to the customer. But there’s one waste – in my opinion, the biggest one of all – that we don’t talk nearly enough about: the waste of employee turnover. It’s a huge problem – in the United States alone, 4.5 million workers quit their job every month! It’s gotten so bad that it has its own name – The Great Resignation.
To produce various products at high-volume, industrial manufacturing plants rely on circuit boards and electronics to precisely and efficiently control the process from the receipt of raw materials onward. Over time, these crucial components can be compromised by processes, chemicals, and airborne vapors that promote corrosion. The result can be costly unscheduled production downtime.
While the core principles of Lean are generally agreed upon (delivering value to the customer, eliminating waste, showing respect for people), one of the places where opinions differ is the application of Lean in Job Shop environments. In Lean-speak, we call these places “High Mix – Low Volume” environments. Because of this inherent variety in part mix and complexity, it does become very difficult to see the benefit of implementing some of the tenets of Lean.
This month’s industry spotlight is brought to us by Del Williams, a technical writer based in Torrance, California. He submitted this interesting piece on surface grinding which we felt could be of interest to our readership. If you’ve got an interesting story that you’d like to share, please submit it for potential placement in the pages of the Gateway Magazine!
As 2021 comes to a close, how did the year stack up compared the tumultuous nature of 2020?
What were some successes? What were some challenges?
Did you reassess your way of doing things at all?
What are you hoping 2022 has in store as we turn to a new year?