Factory and Production

According to an article published in the Harvard Business Review, an estimated 75% of B2B customers rely on word of mouth when making purchasing decisions. For OEM manufacturers like Tapecon Inc, this means nothing is more important than focusing on quality in their production efforts. Located in Buffalo NY, Tapecon’s 90,000 square foot factory specializes in manufacturing prototypes, components, assemblies, and full production services involving custom materials converting and specialized printing.

Over the past few years, the company has made significant strides to improve quality in their factory by executing a “huge push” for culture improvement. The idea behind this movement—as described by Tapecon Supply Chain Manager, Greg Davis— was to “reinforce the company’s core values [which are]: learning is a lifestyle, embrace the challenge, improve it, and collect and collaborate.” Each value is designed to play a part in building a factory centered around continuous improvement and innovation. For these values to have a significant impact on Tapecon’s production efforts, employees need to be able to embrace and own the company’s core values.

Every week, the facility holds mandatory meetings for all employees to review SQDC metrics and partake in peer nominations. With each meeting totaling somewhere around 15 minutes, the goal is to address how employees are using the company’s core values to enhance production. If someone notices a co-worker exemplifying one of the company’s core values, they’re encouraged to nominate that person as a “culture champion.” A “culture champion,” as defined by Davis, is “someone that actively demonstrates our core beliefs, setting an example for others to follow.”

Before a few months ago, Tapecon held their meetings in front of a large whiteboard—which worked well; the company had a single, dedicated space to conduct their meetings. The only issue with using the wall-mounted whiteboard as a tool for peer-to-peer nominations was that the board was not accessible. To nominate a co-worker, operators had to leave their machines and walk across the factory to write on the board.

In an effort to make sure employees were able to nominate their co-workers without losing productivity, Tapecon reached out to Magnatag Visible Systems. After speaking with a Visual Systems Specialist, —a name Magnatag uses to refer to their team of product knowledge experts—Greg and the rest of his team found a solution: Magnatag’s RotoCube^® Bulletin Towers. Designed as a way to take information off the wall, the RotoCube condenses a 4’ x 6’ whiteboard into a 31” footprint using its unique 5-sided design. The dry-erase tower rotates with the touch of a finger and can fit in virtually any space.

With RotoCube now fully integrated into Tapecon’s culture improvement initiative, Greg and the rest of his team have been able to improve employee morale without jeopardizing production efforts. “We have the RotoCubes right on the floor, so anyone can walk right up to the board and submit a “culture champion” nomination. We use the other remaining four sides of the tower to address elements of our SQDC process and keep everyone aware of how we’re performing. We’ve been able to save a ton of space and avoid overcrowding on the floor with the RotoCubes.” With the wall-mounted board no longer needed for meetings, the Tapecon team has repurposed the surface to work as a root-cause analysis system and further develop a culture that prioritizes innovation and continuous improvement.

Last year we made a few predictions about what was in store for the manufacturing industry in 2017. As the year draws to a close, we thought it would be interesting to revisit our predictions and see what we got right—and wrong—about manufacturing in the New Year.

Not long ago, in this galaxy, we wrote a blog post sharing some words of advice for the lean manufacturer as told by everyone’s favorite 900-year old little green goblin-looking humanoid, Yoda. With the newest chapter in the Star Wars Saga, The Last Jedi, hitting theaters this Friday, we thought it’d be fitting to once again revisit some of Yoda’s philosophical teachings and see how they can enhance the lean thinker’s quest to reach True North.

“Much to learn you still have, my old padawan.” … “This is just the beginning!”
Everyone that’s even remotely involved with the manufacturing industry understands the importance of Toyota, the Toyoda family, and their relationship with lean. When you really think about it, the Toyoda family and the Jedi Knights aren’t all that different: both have spent a lifetime perfecting their art; they’ve been molded by their experiences—some would argue that they embody their craft—and have been made all the wiser in doing so. A few months ago, the current President of the Toyota Motor Corporation, Akio Toyoda, sent out an open letter to address the standing of the company after the financial crisis. After detailing the company’s missteps in recent years and presenting a few course-corrections the company will take in the future, Toyoda took ownership of his responsibility to lead the company in the proper direction. The letter ends with Toyoda listing a few philosophies he believes in and will keep in mind for the company’s future, one of which, bears a striking resemblance to the above quote from the wise Jedi Master: “I believe there is no “best,” only “better.” Continuous improvement is a fundamental component of lean, and one that is far too often ignored or swept to the side. It’s easy to become complacent once you’ve made improvements, but if you’re serious about lean, you must continue to innovate and problem solve. Much like the path to becoming a Jedi Master, the path to becoming a Kaizen master never truly stops.

“Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.”
It’s safe to assume that your quest for true north doesn’t involve facing off against an evil empire, a wrinkly old man that projects lightning bolts from his fingers, or a mysterious bounty hunter, but that’s not to say that developing a lean program is not without its own set of obstacles. One of the most common obstacles lean startups face is a lack of support from executives. It’s not uncommon to hear that a lean initiative or startup failed to get off the ground due to a lack of engagement or support from an organization’s highest-ranking officers. To put it simply, many executives don’t understand the value of a lean transformation; they think of it as a cost-cutting, corner-rounding, activity. Lean leaders need to identify executive fear prior to a transformation and alleviate any hesitations that may sway executive leadership. The only “dark-side” to a lean transformation is failing to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

“I cannot teach him. The boy has no patience.”
Luke didn’t become a Jedi overnight; it wasn’t until he fell flat on his face, that he was able to understand the critical role patience plays in the path to becoming one with the force—developing lean is no different. A Kaizen culture cannot be developed in a matter of days, weeks, or months. Your organization needs to understand that developing lean takes time. Sure, you may find pockets of success within a month, but in order to see a long-lasting culture change, you need to be in it for the long haul.

“If you end your training now — if you choose the quick and easy path as Vader did — you will become an agent of evil.”
The entirety of the Star Wars series—up until this point—has revolved around the Skywalker family’s struggle to grapple with the powers of good and evil. While Luke was able to persevere through his Jedi training and become a poster child for the galaxy’s greater-good, the same cannot be said for his father. Anakin’s journey to the dark side and eventual transformation into Vader symbolizes the sensitive relationship between difficult life choices and their impact on the future. Yoda’s warning to Luke alludes to this relationship—and better yet—to the lean transformation process perfectly: Anytime an organization jumps ship and abandons their lean program, they’re inviting the three evils of manufacturing (Muda, Mura, and Muri) to creep their way back into day-to-day operations. Aborting a lean program midway through its development does nothing more than reinforce the exact behavior you initially set out to correct.

According to a 2017 report from the UN Conference on Trade and Development, the rapid increase in robotic automation is projected to affect roughly two-thirds of all jobs worldwide. Now, exactly how those jobs will be affected and its relation to the future of the manufacturing industry is still up to debate. Some theorists believe that adverse effects of automation will be short-lived, increasing productivity growth and thereby increasing worker income, while those that are more pessimistic believe that robotics may require a smaller number of better-skilled workers to operate, leaving millions of low-skilled workers unemployed. But is this something manufacturers should be worried about in 2018?

It’s a bit of an either-or scenario…

The report goes into detail that while the manufacturing industry is currently in the midst of an autonomous revolution, developing countries—whose manufacturing infrastructure is still catching up to modern manufacturing practices—are at a higher risk of losing jobs. This is largely due to the fact that low-skilled jobs in developing countries are more widespread, with developed manufacturers replacing similar low-skilled operations some time ago. The UN theorizes that this degree of fluctuation in the manufacturing industry could potentially result in the “reshoring” of many domestic manufacturers as the demand for high-skilled workers increases alongside automation. So while it’s likely that the demand for low-skilled workers will continue to decrease as automation becomes increasingly prevalent in the manufacturing industry, this doesn’t necessarily mean jobs will be lost in entirety. In fact, by deploying robots within technologically-advanced factories that have been reshored, manufacturers will be able to enhance productivity growth while simultaneously offering higher-paid positions to high-skilled workers.

However, the fact still remains that two-thirds of all jobs in developing nations are in jeopardy due to the prevalence of automation—it’s a number that’s extremely concerning at first glance, but not entirely hopeless either. Ideally, the loss of these jobs will create new opportunities for high-skilled workers in under-developed areas, which should only develop the global economy further.

In the end, it seems that automation and its relation to the modern day manufacturer relies wholeheartedly on the willingness to adapt to the changing economy. If workers and corporations are willing to adapt their skillsets and embrace technology, then automation should provide the manufacturing industry and workforce with an incredible opportunity for growth over the next century. Of course, any country or manufacturer looking to benefit from the enhancements of robotic automation must be aware of the completion that lies ahead.

Robotics and Automation By The Numbers

For the past four years, China has seen the largest number of deployments in industrial robotics with over 500,000 additional robots purchased and implemented since 2013. This push for an increase in automation is all part of the Nation’s “Made in China 2025” initiative, which seeks to comprehensively upgrade the country’s efforts in innovative manufacturing and raise the overall production of components and materials by 70% in 2025. It’s a lofty goal no doubt, but one that can only be accomplished with an increased demand for autonomous machinery—and these numbers are not exclusively found in China. Manufacturers in North America are also striving towards an autonomous future, with over 300,000 industrial robots in place in the same four-year span. It’s estimated that robots currently manage roughly 10% of the world’s manufacturing tasks today, with that number estimated to rise to 25% by 2025.

It’s statistics like these that send a shiver down the spine of members of the manufacturing community—and understandably so; with autonomous output more than doubling in less than a decade, it’s nearly impossible to imagine what the manufacturing landscape will look like in another twenty years. The silver lining to this for members of the workforce is that widespread automation is not yet suitable for all industries. For example, over 250,000 industrial robots were distributed globally in 2015 and roughly 160,000 were solely distributed to automotive and electronics manufacturers, which left 90,000 to be distributed amongst metal, chemical, plastic, and food manufacturers. If these numbers are anything to go by, it’s clear that robotic automation has yet to reach the level of universal accessibility that so many fear.

In Conclusion

Manufacturing will only continue to evolve as industrial robotics become increasingly accessible, but just because automation is on the rise, it doesn’t mean that factory workers will be extinct within the next decade, in fact, this advancement in supply-chain technology presents an extraordinary opportunity for operators across the globe. Low-skilled work will continue to evaporate in exchange for better paying high-skill jobs, giving supply-chain operators a window of opportunity to develop a new set of higher-paying skills. With this in mind, factory workers should prepare to adapt to the changing manufacturing climate as opposed to fearing it.

With the New Year just around the corner, many manufacturers have begun discussing the future of their supply chain management efforts. This often starts with a conversation that leads to questions like “How can we improve production in the year ahead?” or “how are we classifying a good day in the New Year?” A point of interest that frequently gets mentioned in response to these questions is the Internet of Things (IoT) and the impact it can have on a factory’s performance. With the adoption of IoT continuing to spread across the manufacturing industry, automation is rapidly becoming a standard as a growing number of manufacturers are ditching the concept of a manual labor factory in favor of digital-first initiatives. In 2017 alone, 1.6 billion industry-specific IoT devices were deployed across the globe, with that number expected to double by 2020.

A few months ago Nintendo officially revealed their latest iteration in hardware revivals with the announcement of the Super Nintendo Classic (or better known by its internet nickname: S.N.E.S Classic). The S.N.E.S Classic is a miniature reimagining of the classic Super Nintendo system from the 90s that comes preloaded with 21 games that span the system’s 13-year manufacturing cycle. While the system’s announcement took the Internet by storm, Nintendo’s manufacturing history indicates consumers should proceed with caution before boarding the hype-train.

This isn’t the first time Nintendo has gone back to the nostalgia machine for a quick payday: just last year the company released a miniature version of the original Nintendo Entertainment System that made waves during the holiday season. Over the course of the console’s five-month retail lifespan, Nintendo stock rose to an eight-year high, with the company selling over 2.3 million systems in a mere five-month period. However, the company ran into a few issues on the manufacturing side of the business, with supply failing to keep up with popular demand and the system disappearing off store shelves within seconds of the product’s release. Consumers and industry analysts expected the company to continue to ship units well into 2017 in an effort to offset the system’s overwhelming popularity, yet Nintendo abruptly discontinued production of the retro console just five months into its lifecycle.

A report by PWC states that, “The Global demand for manufactured products is growing at a snail’s pace. Output is expected to increase just 3.1 percent in 2016 and 3.4 percent in 2017, according to the International Monetary Fund.” While the Manufacturing sector continues to grapple with its challenges pertaining to efficiency, operational costs, and performance, it has been diligently implementing IT solutions to meet market expectations.

Obeya’s have taken over the manufacturing landscape over the course of the past few years. This spin on the traditional war room emphasizes the importance of breaking down communication barriers that typically arise from a disconnect between workforce and upper-management. Derived from the Japanese term for “big room,” an Obeya is a dedicated space that uses visual communication tools to provide teams with a dedicated space to address problem-solving issues and present a big picture look and the status of an entire facility. Originally designed as an isolated space away from the production, manufacturers have increasingly begun implementing the concept onto the shop floor. For manufacturers that have done their homework, an Obeya is a powerful resource the gels seamlessly with process improvement, but manufacturers that believe an Obeya is just a set of walls and some whiteboards will be sadly mistaken; there’s more to an Obeya than just creating a room. Luckily, if you don’t know where to start, we’ve got you covered. Below you’ll find a list of some essential practices that manufacturers should be sure to follow when designing an Obeya for their factory. covered. Below you’ll find a list of some essential practices that manufacturers should be sure to follow when designing an Obeya for their factory.

The biggest barrier of entry for the manufacturing industry has always been the language that surrounds it. We’ve spoken about it at length in previous blog posts, and it’s no secret to anyone familiar with the industry: manufacturing is an extremely complex and intricate workspace that requires familiarity for success.

That’s not to say a supply chain manager from Company A could waltz into a facility owned by Company B and have a complete understanding of their operations; that’s not how it works. There has to be context in order to find understanding. Sure, numbers and mathematics are universally understood, but if someone was present you with a handful of numbers without any context, would you be able to make any sense of them? I’ll answer that for you: No.

Maintaining a large factory is no easy job—and to put it simply—it’s downright frustrating to keep a team of 100+ employees on-task. But for Sandra Parker, the Process Improvement Manager at Sonoco packaging, increasing productivity and safety in her factory is more than just a menial task—it’s a commitment.

The name Taiichi Ohno is sure to raise a few eyebrows in a room full of engineers; after all, he is the co-creator of the Toyota Production System! Widely recognized as the father of both the Just-In-Time and Seven Wastes principals, Ohno’s teachings have shaped the pathway of modern manufacturing as it stands today. Over the past few decades, Tachii’s basic principals of manufacturing have undergone multiple transformations, influencing areas outside of manufacturing and making a larger impact in western business practices. Ohno unfortunately passed back in 1990, but not without revolutionizing the way organizations isolate wasteful components and draw focus to areas of improvement. In an effort to celebrate Ohno’s upcoming birthday (February 29^th), we put together a list of some of our favorite lessons we can all take away from the father of lean manufacturing.

Proper management of both employees and resources is a key component of running a successful manufacturing facility—and when you're managing a factory of any size, it's easy to let the little things slip under the radar. It's not due to negligence or a lack of motivation, but a lack of proper tools. We caught up with one of Magnatag's Visible Systems Specialists, Sue, to shed some light on how our systems can work for you.

If you’ve ever been in a meeting with a roomful of engineers discussing shop, you know how easy it is to get lost in the discussion. For anyone that’s trying to get a feel for the industry, there’s no easy way to decipher the many terms and principals that surround the manufacturing cycle; it’s as if there should be an entire section of the dictionary devoted solely to the industry. While we can’t offer you that concession—because let’s be honest, we don’t have time for that—we can offer you a place to start. We’ve put together the ultimate glossary, for the leading manufacturing philosophy in the world: Lean manufacturing.

With the holiday season now behind us, it’s time to look ahead at what 2017 has in store for the future of the manufacturing industry. 2016 ended on a high note, bringing with it speculation of good things to come for the year ahead. With that in mind, we created a list of four possible game changers the manufacturing enthusiast should keep an eye on in the New Year.

Disclaimer: Locations and names have been changed to ensure the protection of both those involved and myself. It’s to the understanding of Mr. Claus that his facility and staff will remain a mystery, with only pre-approved details making their way into the final piece. Also, I’m not saying that any of this is true—I’m not saying it isn’t either.

In 2015, worker injuries and illnesses went down-from 10.9 incidents per 100 workers in 1972 to 3.0. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration—which is a subdivision of the US Department of Labor—plays a large part in guaranteeing that this statistic continues to follow a downward trend.

In an attempt to maintain this statistic and ensure that their workplace is in accordance with National and State labor laws, many companies have started to reshape the way safety is defined in their culture.

November is World Quality Month. What started in Japan in the 1960s to help build awareness for quality control, has now gown to the point where World Quality Month is now celebrated across the globe to encourage businesses to strive for continuous improvement.

The Easton, Redding, and Region 9 school district is a tri-district located in Easton, Connecticut made up of five schools: Redding Elementary, Samuel Staples Elementary, Hellen Keller Middle, John Read Middle, and Joel Barlow High School—all of which fall directly under the supervision of Walter Czudak.

We recently came across an article in the September/October issue of Industry Week Magazine that talks about Obeya. The article describes an Obeya as a centralized hub used for coordinating production and problem solving. Outfitted with visuals like charts, graphs, and trackers; Obeya’s are an essential part of managing and coordinating lean manufacturing efforts, functioning as a bridge between departments.

There’s the famous saying that goes a little something like: “If you want to have a happy life, you’re best to leave your work at work.” While that may remain true for most right-minded individuals, the reality of the situation at hand is that it’s not always possible. Some people work irregular hours, forcing them to conflict personal time with their hectic work life. Others may find themselves in a different situation entirely: working from home to best combat the harsh reality of two full-time working parents. Regardless of what the situation at hand may be, it helps to have access to a workplace that feels comfortable and inviting. By inserting yourself an environment that feels homey, you’re inherently easing the natural tension that comes with the territory of a typical workplace.

Every industry develops its own set of words and phrases. Whether you’re a lawyer, production manager, executive, accountant, or engineer, you’ll encounter catchphrases and trade names on a daily—if not hourly—basis. Frequently used as a method to help us communicate complex or multifaceted items quickly and efficiently, industry slang is a great device for the sake of simplicity in the workplace. The thing about industry-specific terms and phrases is that they carry an enormous amount weight for people familiar with the trade. The only downside is: they’re not universally understood.

Today is the fourth of May, or a day better known by Star Wars Fans as May the fourth... Say the date out loud and you will quickly catch on to the pun that sparked a worldwide phenomenon a long time ago. Every year millions of individuals around the world gather to take part in a daylong event celebrating everything Star Wars. As 24-hour movie marathons and celebration parades set to take place throughout the day, we figured we could join in on this year’s celebration by taking a few pointers from master Yoda himself.

The demand from consumers for new products with customized options has never been greater. As a result, the manufacturing marketplace has become extremely volatile, with new technologies and methods arising every year. Over the past decade, many manufacturing managers have adopted a Lean process as the standardized method for organizing their factory workflows.

We’re big believers in the concept of lean manufacturing and so our many of our customers. As a result, we are always looking for the best and brightest insights in the ever-changing world of lean.

Since part of our job requires us to be up-to-date on the latest trends and thoughts within the manufacturing industry, we know there is a wealth of knowledge floating all around the Internet. So rather than hoarding all that knowledge for ourselves, we thought we’d share it with you! Here are some of the top minds in the lean industry that you should be following:

The following post was contributed by Greg Hernandez, the Marketing Manager at R.W. Lyall

At Lyall, we’ve been manufacturing and engineering natural gas piping components for over 45 years—a span of time that often piques the curiosity of startup leaders I run into from day to day. Many of them assume there must be some great secret to how, in such a historically volatile market, we’ve been able to not only stick around but grow from one to three manufacturing facilities, all across the U.S., and all filled with happy, long-time employees.

The Internet is clouded with hundreds of websites that cover the lean manufacturing beat, and with plenty of stories being published every day, it can sometimes seem overwhelming to keep up with the latest lean practices and findings. If you’re familiar with the Magnatag Insight Blog, it is likely you’ve read some of my own findings regarding the lean process; but my findings are not, and should never be, interpreted as the absolute truth. So much of the lean process revolves around finding what works best for you, so I think it is important to develop an eclectic understanding of how lean can work for you.

If you’re a factory manager that finds yourself struggling to maintain a balance in your workday, I am sure you’d be hesitant to refer to the manufacturing industry as a calming practice. With orders to be processed and packages to be shipped, it should come as no surprise that factory managers (just like yourself) are always juggling more than one project at a time. Now add the post-holiday surge to the equation, and you have created a scenario that can make even the most temper-minded individuals go a little crazy.

Many people believe that setting goals for oneself is crucial to success, as it helps you stay focused and on track. The methodology behind goal setting has been commonplace in the business world for quite some time. Companies commonly set benchmark goals for sales and production quotas in an effort to motivate and inspire employees. So what’s the best way to track these goals? Well, we believe Magnatag’s very own KPI Indicator is the perfect tool for the job. I recently sat down with Deb, one of our Visual Systems Specialists, to get a better understanding of how the board functions, and how it can be best applied within a workplace.

Quality is of the upmost importance to everyone here at Magnatag; nearly every product we offer is both made and shipped from our in-house production facility. This week I sat down with our Lean Manufacturing Operations Manager, Neil. I wanted to pick his brain, learn more about what exactly goes into production, and how he’s able to ensure that our whiteboards are always held to the Magnatag standard.

No one knows more about our Magnatag products than our own Visible Systems Specialists. In an effort to gain a better understanding for our safety awareness kits, we decided to spend the afternoon picking the brain of Sue, one of Magnatag’s veteran specialists.

Our customers frequently remind us of just how integral our safety maintenance boards are to the success of their businesses. With the start of the New Year just around the corner, Magnatag hopes to make safety awareness a simple and stress-free component of your 2016 production year. Here is a list of three of our most popular safety maintenance boards amongst factory owners nationwide.

When a production manager implements lean manufacturing on the production floor, the main goal is to improve the company and eliminate waste. On top of lean’s concepts and principles used to eliminate waste, there are 25 lean manufacturing tools that production managers can choose from to implement lean thinking. Some of the most popular ones include Kanban, JIT (Just in Time) and 5S, but there are others just as effective that you should consider utilizing:

Good visuals that help plan, schedule, organize and communicate information are an essential part of a lean environment. Recent studies show that as high as 83% of human learning occurs visually.  Good visuals have a positive and sustainable impact on productivity, quality, equipment, reliability and employee engagement.

Implementing and maintaining a safety program in your work environment can be a challenging task, but it is necessary for your company. These programs are designed to make employees aware of what is going on around them in their work environment to keep them safe and healthy. Magnatag has found that just using signs such as "caution" or "safety first!" are not enough to keep your employees' engaged and focused on improving safety - you have to get them involved in the safety program with visual aids that report safety records and promote safety awareness for the whole production floor. Check out our infographic to find out the shocking workplace injury statistics and how to prevent them by using visual aids!

History of Lean Principles and Lean Manufacturing
Lean is a method for eliminating waste in a manufacturing environment. It focuses on eliminating the 3Ms of waste: Mura, Muda and Muri. The lean manufacturing philosophy created mostly from the Toyota Production System.  John Krafick, a former quality engineer in the Toyota-GM NUMMI joint venture, brought the term “lean principles” to the United States from the Japanese manufacturing industry. There are now five lean principles that are used to guide lean techniques and make the lean manufacturing environment successful.

In order for a production facility to perform up to its full potential, every employee needs to know what they have to do, where they have to be and the progress that needs to be made within the time allotted to meet goals and expectations.

Using Whiteboards to Streamline Training Processes
You could say that whiteboard systems are a critical part of the faculty, as it can be organized to schedule, manage and train. Yes, train - often an overlooked aspect of manufacturing, it can also be optimized to give everyone a clear, concise picture of the training program that you're implementing. Having a set visual system to clearly define qualifications is an essential tool for communication and improving efficiency in the workplace.  Once properly implemented it can be a key source for feedback, communication and relevant discussion to promote continuous learning among employees.

In a manufacturing facility, when a preventable line stoppage occurs, paid employees are idle, while a maintenance crew resolves the problem. In some plants, raw materials spoil if not used quickly and add to the dollars lost to an equipment failure. If the place on the line where the stoppage happened is critical to the manufacturing line, the entire production line and not just a single section may have to shut down. In short, unplanned work stoppages are costly, and if serious, they interrupt the production schedule and can even cause a delay in delivery of the completed product.

Surprisingly, even companies that use advanced manufacturing software overlook simple maintenance tasks that affect plant productivity in a negative way.

Safety is one of the highest priorities for manufacturers. An excellent safety record keeps costs and production disruptions low, helps prevent issues with OSHA and keeps employee morale high, but the most important reason to stay focused on safety is because it protects the company’s most important resource – its people.

Safety doesn't just happen – it requires diligence and effort to ensure that safety stays top of mind despite the drive to deliver products quickly and cost effectively. One of the easiest ways to ensure that safety remains a high priority is to measure safety and to post safety records prominently where everyone can see them. Magnetic whiteboards are a superb tool to address this need because of their flexibility and proven ability to boost safety awareness and improve the overall safety culture within an organization. Here are a few ways to use magnetic whiteboards to measure and improve safety records.

We all make mistakes but what distinguishes industry leaders is their ability to identify root causes and make changes so that costly mistakes such as time and material waste don't happen again.

Lean tools for quality improvement
If you work in a “Lean Manufacturing” environment you're familiar with tools like “5S”, “Root Cause Analysis”, fish-bone diagrams, and the “5 Whys”. They're all powerful tools for managing the workplace, helping you stay organized and preventing problems recurring. What we find a lot of companies struggle with though, is using them effectively.

It takes a great team to make a business tick to its maximum potential - and if one particular wing of the company isn't performing up to par, it's the entire company that will suffer, which will absolutely be reflected in the bottom line.

In a manufacturing environment, you're being relied on to produce products quickly without sacrificing quality. After all, when it comes to product development, time to market is crucial these days and the manufacturing step of the development cycle is the final, yet arguably the most important, part of promptly getting the product out the door and to the end user.

Just in Time (JIT), Continuous Improvement (CI) and Six Sigma are all systems that improve manufacturing quality and cut inventory costs. While there are loads of computer systems that are compatible with how these systems work, for inventory control, many companies prefer much simpler, manual whiteboard and card holder systems known as a Kanban system. Even large plants that could implement complicated electronic systems are opting to implement simpler Kanban Card Board Systems because they are easier to setup and use.

Lean manufacturing has helped companies make major strides in productivity and efficiency by eliminating non-value added steps and streamlining business and production processes. Removing wasted time and effort in your operations can improve profits considerably.

Moving the heart of your decision making from the office to factory floor can reap several rewards. Sharing information with employees involved with day to day operations empowers them to make a difference.

The role of whiteboards in lean manufacturing:

A Kanban system, which is a way to help organize workflows, is an essential manufacturing process. Not only does it prioritize things for employees, but it puts a clear focus and emphasis on what needs to be done and will help unveil problems that those in charge may not have had a clear understanding of before. In any industry, it's all about delivery, and especially with manufacturing, a Kanban system is key.

At Magnatag, our manufacturing floor is one of the main components of what we do. Each and every day, our products are made and shipped out to our customers in a process that is controlled, concise, and effective, and a big reason for this has to do with our Kanban systems. With all of that said, if you aren't yet taking advantage of this, understand two things - this type of system will revolutionize your manufacturing organization system, and it can be done very conveniently on a whiteboard.

Here are a few ways in which Kanban systems can be effective:

Here at Magnatag my Visible System teammates and I frequently work with customers who need to solve scheduling and information display problems in a production or service environment.

We often hear how slowdowns occur when the information employees need to process a job is not readily available. Recently we worked with a customer whose job stopped in several departments before passing it on to the next group. Once we realized their work flow could be defined by a series of steps or stages, the challenge became one of communicating that information to employees. What they need to know is the status of each job, what is coming next in the pipeline and where the bottlenecks are.

If you're like me, sitting at a desk has become your typical daily routine when at the office. However, some companies aren't just full of offices with desks and cubicles. Instead, at some companies, you'll find the manufacturing floor, where products are created for future sales and distribution. If you've never been on a manufacturing floor, even at your company, there are some necessary safety precautions to take. There will typically be some heavy machinery on the manufacturing floor, so it's always best to play it safe.

Imagine going to a professional baseball game, you arrive after it's started but with a quick glance at the scoreboard you know exactly what's going on. On the way to your seat and without asking anyone, you see the inning and the score. It also shows who is at bat, balls, strikes, outs, the number of hits, errors, runs by inning, even who's on deck. The information is organized in order of importance to a baseball fan. The same is true when you drive a car. The speedometer is the largest display because we check it the most, then comes the tachometer, gas gauge, oil pressure, battery and temperature. While most statistics are useful, a good scoreboard shows us what we need, when we need it.

Kanban is a lean production technique for inventory management and job loading that is fundamental to streamlining the flow of work to meet customer demands. Even though electronic Kanban and inventory management systems are becoming more robust, basic analog kanban card systems continue to provide a quick and easy alternative. Based on our experience with customers who use these boards every day, here are some examples of effective implementation.