Get your copy of the 7th Annual State of Smart Manufacturing and hear from 300+ manufacturers in this new survey report!
So, you’ve decided to embark on an overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) project to increase equipment effectiveness and develop process improvements that maximize efficiencies. You’ve got your spreadsheets and clipboards ready (you don’t really need those, but more on that later). You’re ready to go. Now what?...
Read MoreThe rise of cloud-based software and advanced analytics has helped manufacturers drill further into Lean and Six Sigma methodologies that improve efficiency and lower costs....
Read More“Efficiency” is a broad term in manufacturing. It means producing or doing something while using the least time, resources, and energy. For companies like yours, that may encompass efficiency of motion, the effectiveness of training, the quality of SOPs, or inventory accuracy. But it’s when all those components are working together that operations achieve their highest efficiency....
Read MoreEveryone knows that poor quality can cause headaches that ripple throughout an organization, but not every manufacturer approaches (or even defines) quality the same way. Quality improvement strategies are as old as manufacturing itself, and yet achieving success in this area continues to be a challenge for many in the industry. Done right, and your quality concerns will be reduced to a minimal…
Read MoreIf you don’t know what you’ve got, you don’t know what you can make. While simple, this statement sums up the importance of inventory accounting in any business. But the value of inventory is just as significant. While accurate unit counts mean actual performance will match the production schedule, inventory valuation affects many areas within the company....
Read MoreWhat’s your quality management system like? It’s a simple question, but the answer can be complicated. Most manufacturers say they have a system in place, but what does that really entail? After all, some quality systems are based on manual, rudimentary processes while others leverage automated, cutting-edge innovations. Regardless of the level of sophistication, any quality management system…
Read MoreGet this - U.S. businesses carried $2,069.5 billion of inventory through July of 2021. That’s a 16.3% compared to 2020 when inventories were depleted during the early days of COVID. Further, business-to-sales ratio for inventory is 1.25, the lowest point since 2012 and reflective of the boom caused by pent-up demand....
Read MoreYou can't fix what you can't see. Without access to and analysis of the data resulting from production, manufacturers risk higher costs, poor quality, and mysteriously low equipment utilization. And with global manufacturing competition at an all-time high due to disruption, trade wars, COVID-19, and other issues, companies just can't afford to be in the dark about what's going on in their…
Read MoreWhen the COVID-19 pandemic hit manufacturing, it quickly became clear the companies that would succeed would be companies that could pivot on a dime. One of those companies is Plex customer Olde Thompson. Headquartered in Oxnard, California, the company is the world’s largest manufacturer of salt and pepper mills and a leading manufacturer of private label and branded dry spices and seasonings.…
Read MoreThe atmosphere in the global automotive industry is becoming more electric—literally. The Global EV Outlook 2019 reports that the global electric vehicle fleet exceeded 5.1 million in 2018, up 2 million from the previous year and almost doubling new electric car sales. Those numbers are expected to grow exponentially....
Read More