Quality & Metrics

Proper Planning Up Front Required if Lean Programs Are to Maximize Production, Profitability Increases

September 4, 2014

Significant effort and dollars are invested in lean initiatives each year in manufacturing plants across the United States. These investments can yield significant production and profitability gains if done properly.

Chief Marketing, Information Officers Need to Be on Same Page for Big Data to Equal Big Profit

September 4, 2014

McKinsey

A global company recently decided to do what many companies are doing: figure out how to turn big data into big profits. It put together a preliminary budget and a request for proposal that in effect asked vendors to take the data the company had and identify opportunities.

Voluntary Sustainability Standard Developed for Small-Appliance Industry

September 2, 2014

Appliance

The first voluntary U.S. sustainability standard for small appliances and floor care appliances has been released, intended to help portable and floor care appliance manufacturers evaluate the environmental sustainability of their products.

Lean Is Alive! Why You Need It More Than Ever

August 29, 2014

Robert J. Bowman, SupplyChainBrain

Avnet Inc. just celebrated its 10th anniversary as a Lean company. But the company's search for waste and inefficiency is far from over.

3-D Printing's Revolution Is in New Approach to Designing Parts, Not in Making Same Old Parts a New Way

August 28, 2014

Industry Week

Many people look at end use parts as the nirvana of 3-D printing. But what's really interesting about 3-D printing is not how it's augmenting the way things are done traditionally. It's the way designers are utilizing 3-D printing as a new paradigm to help design a new kind of object.

While WTO Dithers, Traders Should Act

August 25, 2014

Robert J. Bowman, SupplyChainBrain

The path to harmonized and streamlined global trade is steep and strewn with boulders.

Supply Chain Strategy and the Boardroom

August 22, 2014

SupplyChainBrain

Solving Efeso and the Cranfield School of Management conducted a multi-year study on how companies approach supply chain strategy at the boardroom level, correlating specific practices with supply chain performance and business success. Steve Mayhew, principal consultant at Solving Efeso, discusses the study and highlights key findings.

Cognex Equips Barcode Readers With Real-Time Monitoring

August 15, 2014

Cognex Corp.

Cognex Corp. has developed a new performance-monitoring system for its DataMan line of barcode readers.

Icix Creates Cloud-Based App for Product Safety Compliance

August 12, 2014

Icix

Icix, a vendor of applications for global supply-chain risk management, has developed Direct Test.

Penske Logistics Joins CargoNet Security Group

August 12, 2014

Penske Logistics

Penske Logistics has joined CargoNet, a national database that aims to prevent cargo theft and improve recovery rates through the sharing of information among theft victims, their business partners and law-enforcement officials.