Industry 4.0 Ramps Up Product Life Cycles
Industry 4.0’s real business impact on product development and design is often understated in the hype it has created. More and more products are being made with native intelligence that allows...
Cashing the Check on Predictive Maintenance
The most frequently cited example of Industry 4.0 is asset performance management. A critical manufacturing asset is fitted with affordable sensor technology. This allows for the collection of unprecedented volumes and...
Data Warehouses and Big Data are Evolving into Data Lakes
The Internet of Things (IoT) and Machine Learning are key aspects of Industry 4.0. Both will result in the unprecedented collection and analysis of data to drive new insights and benefits....
Taiichi Ohno: Hero of the Toyota Production System
"Wisdom is given equally to everybody. The point is whether one can exercise it." -Taiichi Ohno
Very few people have been able to harness and use their wisdom as powerfully as Taiichi...
DDMRP: Beyond the Acronym
In a world with a perpetual flow of new crazes and trends, passing fads and game-changing ingenuities often wearing the same clothing, it is only the test of time that truly...
Quality Management: Getting Your Executives on Board
When everybody in your organization is on the same page with your quality management program, things will run smoothly. Yes, this even includes the executives. Do you recall Dr. W. Edwards...
Dr. James P. Womack: Hero of Lean Manufacturing
Through many of our articles we focus on the future of manufacturing, such as upcoming trends and keeping up with new technology, but how did we get here? It’s important to...
Has 3D Printing Made the Junkyard Dog an Endangered Species?
When I was a kid my dad owned a 1958 Triumph that was always one pothole bump or one rainy day short-circuit away from being disabled. It would repeatedly and predictably...
IoT Connected Devices: Benefits and Risks
With the Internet of Things (IoT) in its infancy, regulatory agencies haven’t issued official rules for medical device manufacturers to follow in regards to connected devices. That said, it’s a good...
Effective Quality Management Through Smudgy Fingerprints
I can’t tell you how many manufacturing plants I have been through that have multiple well-positioned bulletin boards covered with neatly hung quality charts. Sadly at times these charts are tombstones...