Making Your Virtual Kaizen Initiative a Success

What should your company do and ask before diving in? Here’s a roadmap to guide your efforts. Tony Rodriquez Kate McGovern Mike Beauregard NOV 18, 2020 Long, long ago, Kaizen events meant walking-around observation and value stream mapping in face-to-face and elbow-to-elbow meetings. We believed that sharing respiratory space was essential to discover our company’s…

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The Post-Pandemic Production Floor

September 25, 2020 The COVID-19 pandemic is transforming the way businesses operate faster and more profoundly than possibly any other event in the history of the world.  For instance, in 2019, if we were to tell business leaders that the bulk of their white-collar workforce would be working from home for an extended period of…

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Operational Excellence in a Digital World

August 17, 2020 Traditionally in the Service Industry, Operational Excellence (OpEx) focused on the Operations function: Back and Mid Offices fulfilling the client’s request. Main focus was on decreasing handling and throughput time, with techniques like Lean Thinking, Six Sigma and Scientific Management. The goal was mainly to let humans work more efficiently. However, in…

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Digitizing industrial products at Cummins

Everything about Cummins is big. The Fortune 500 company manufactures engines for big vehicles, employs 63,000 people, generates $23 billion in sales, and operates all over the globe. With digital technologies making their way into Cummins’ products, much about this big company is changing all at once, including IT’s role in product engineering, the sales…

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COVID-19 accelerates enterprise use of automation in digital transformation

IDG TECHTALK VOICES By Brian Solis, CIO | JUN 16, 2020 11:20 AM PDT With cost savings and rapid time to value through efficiency and scale, Robotic Process Automation (RPA), and automation as a whole, were on a gradual, but longer-term rise in digital transformation (DX). Then COVID-19 struck and digital transformation itself was disrupted. Executives weren’t prepared for…

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Eager to Lead: Tips for the Up-and-Coming Manufacturing Manager

Larry Fast JUN 16, 2020 IndustryWeek Lean Leadership columnist Larry Fast shares six tactics to help you grow as a manufacturing leader and master each new role. Question: I am a college graduate and just getting started as a management trainee. Presently, I am learning about scheduling and machine operations. What tips do you have for…

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A To-Do List for Restarting—and Rethinking—Plants Post COVID-19

2020 presents a golden opportunity to come out of our cocoons and try an approach that is dramatically different in order to adequately navigate uncertain times. Amol Mate JUN 10, 2020 It is now evident that post COVID-19 lockdown, manufacturing plants will have restrictions on manpower density per square foot to adhere to the social…

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New Leadership Challenges for the Virtual World of Work

June 6, 2020 Alec Levenson and Patrick McLaughlin During the COVID-19 crisis, senior leaders must rethink key decision-making processes in order to enhance trust, transparency, and teamwork. The COVID-19 pandemic has suddenly and dramatically upended the working world, creating unanticipated business and leadership challenges. Some organizations are pivoting hard to new delivery channels, new products,…

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Moving from Just in Time to Just in Case

The Covid-19 crisis calls for re-balancing priorities. Lauren Pittelli MAY 27, 2020 In pursuit of ever-greater efficiency, many businesses de-emphasized supply chain flexibility and resilience. Today’s situation calls for rebalancing priorities. Consider for a moment the farms growing food for commercial users here or in China. Pre Covid-19, these farms were highly efficient and offered…

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Machine learning helps Invisalign patients find their perfect smile

By Clint BoultonSenior Writer, CIO | MAY 25, 2020 3:00 AM PDT The mobile computing trend requires enterprises to meet consumers’ expectations for accessing information and completing tasks from a smartphone. But there’s a converse to that arrangement: Mobile has also become the go-to digital platform companies use to market their goods and services. Align Technology, which offers…

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