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(LEI: Cambridge, MA) -- Before offshoring work to low-wage countries, senior managers should use “lean math” to calculate the true total cost of relocating, according to management expert James P. Womack, Ph.D., founder and chairman of the Lean Enterprise Institute (LEI).
Companies usually…
(BMGI: Amsterdam) --To ensure its team was maximizing the business' performance levels, Graphic Packaging International (GPI), a producer of packaging solutions with 15,000 employees worldwide and annual revenues over €13 billion ($18.3 billion), turned to Breakthrough Management Group…
It started slowly but surely. With the slump of the U.S. economy, companies started downsizing first by the dozens, then by the hundreds. Today, thousands of organizations across the country have in one way or another had to perform some kind of cost-cutting measure.
And as unemployment started…
(Georgia Institute of Technology: Atlanta) -- When entrepreneurs Sherrie Ford and Steve Hollis purchased a manufacturing facility previously owned by the Swiss conglomerate ABB (Asea Brown Boveri Ltd.), six years ago, one of their first items of business was to realign the company’s mission.…
(Littelfuse: Chicago) -- A continous improvement team from the Littelfuse Inc. manufacturing facility in the Philippines leveraged its lean Six Sigma process to garner silver winner award honors at the American Society for Quality (ASQ) 2009 International Team Excellence Award competition at the…
This paperback book will be easy to find on library shelves; just look for the one with the most dog-eared pages. Lean Six Sigma Using SigmaXL and Minitab, by Issa Bass and Barbara Lawton, Ph.D. (McGraw Hill, 2009) may become your most greatly used reference book. It’s a practical introduction to…
(Aveta Business Institute: Cleveland) -- It's no secret that in today's economy no job is secure. For the first time in more than 25 years, the United States unemployment rate has risen to 9.4 percent, as of May 2009. Along with this grim statistic come salary cuts, demotions, layoffs, and job…
MAG Industrial Automation Systems has been granted the Caterpillar Inc. Supplier Quality Excellence Process Certification (SQEP). MAG's Six Sigma program helped the company achieve the award.
Caterpillar's SQEP is presented to suppliers that demonstrate strong values, ethical principles, and a…
(InfinityQS: Chantilly, VA) -- Learn how to maximize your investment in InfinityQS by attending its third annual user conference. Infusion 2009 features a new three-track format to empower you with the tools and skills you need to help your business save time and money.
Hear from InfinityQS…
As the global market becomes increasingly integrated, customers demand that businesses have a superior level of quality and performance. In that respect, geographical location is becoming irrelevant, says Robert Chalker, American Society for Quality’s (ASQ) global managing director.
“The…
(WCBF: Chicago) -- WCBF's fourth Global Lean, Six Sigma and Business Improvement Summit & Industry Awards will take place at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin, in Orlando, on October 13–16.
The event represents the largest gathering of leading experts and senior executives across various…
This is the second report from the author, who is currently working in Afghanistan. Don’t miss his first article, “Ensuring Quality in a War Zone.”
--Editor
They told us the road was clear. They didn’t say it was safe; it was a dirt road that ran seven kilometers through the district of Shah…
The 5S System is one of the most powerful activities of lean manufacturing. The 5S philosophy focuses on simplifying the work environment, reducing waste, and improving quality and safety.
It's the natural place to start your lean effort because lean is all about eliminating nonvalue-added…
(EtQ: Farmingdale, New York) -- The EtQ decision tree allows users to create a web-based list of related questions that are dependant on each other, so that the results of the questions will impact the business process and produce quantitative results such as a risk ranking, subsequent questions,…
(MoreSteam: Lewis Center, Ohio) -- MoreSteam.com announce the release of French and German versions of its Lean Six Sigma Green Belt course. These newest additions to MoreSteam’s e-Learning catalog are the first complete Lean Six Sigma Green Belt courses presented in French and German by any…
(MFGWatch: Atlanta) -- Results of a survey recently conducted by MFGWatch give a snapshot on the state of sourcing, sourcing preferences, company growth projections, and reactions to economic conditions. More than 200 purchasing professionals and engineers from the manufacturing industry…
(WCBF: Chicago) -- The Global Six Sigma and Business Improvement Awards are given to the most outstanding organizational achievements through the deployment of business improvement programs. The final deadline for entry is near.
The Global Six Sigma Awards Ceremony will be held on October 14th…
(Minitab: State College, Pennsylvania) -- Statistics can be complicated and daunting, but the statistical analysis of data is at the heart of proven business improvement methods such as lean and Six Sigma.
As more businesses search for ways to boost efficiency—and profits—in the current…
Baldrige award medallion.
(NIST: Gaithersburg, MD) -- Seventy organizations have taken the first step toward the 2009 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, the nation’s highest recognition for innovation and performance excellence.…
(Peavey Electronics Corp.: Meridian, Mississippi) -- Peavey Electronics Corp. has begun a companywide lean initiative that will maximize efficiency among its 33 facilities and strengthen the organization's position in the global marketplace.
Lean manufacturing is a philosophy of maximizing…
(Avery Point Group: Atlanta) -- The recession and rapid slumping of sales are forcing many companies to reevaluate their priorities with regard to their continuous improvement initiatives. As a result, there’s a high demand for lean talent skill sets, according to a new study by The Avery Point…
(IBM: Washington, D.C. and ARMONK, New York) -- IBM designed a consulting service that will help governments better understand their overall performance on environmental issues, identify improvements that can increase energy efficiency, reduce environmental impact including greenhouse gas…
(New Hampshire Manufacturing Extension Partnership: Concord, New Hampshire) -- The New Hampshire Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP), in collaboration with MEPs in Maine and Massachusetts, have implemented a pilot program to integrate government conservation guidelines into its training…
(Smarter Solutions Inc.: Austin, Texas) -- Business management governance needs reinvention now. Current management practices didn’t prevent occurrence of the current financial crisis and often permitted creation of detrimental policies without risk assessment, says Forrest Breyfogle, CEO and…
(Moresteam.com: Columbus, Ohio) -- Cardinal Health, a global manufacturer and distributor of health care supplies and technologies, uses innovative lean Six Sigma training methods to pursue their goal of total process and safety excellence. In a Feb. 19 web cast available to the public, Cardinal…