Manufacturing Knowledge Base

Part of the Shingo Prize winning Manufacturing Insights video series, this program is about the successful partnership between John Deere in Horicon, Wisconsin and one of its suppliers - the R&B Machining and Grinding Company located in Racine, Wisconsin.

Find out what changes were required to "lean their supply chain" and how they successfully handled the changes to move from batch to lean production. See how they developed shorter cycle times needed for "build-to-demand," and how they are able to achieve higher quality, lower costs and better delivery performance. John Deere, who has built a reputation for doing the right thing, helps its suppliers meet the challenges of becoming a world class manufacturing company instead of just forcing demands on them. Since it is natural for workplaces to reject changes, R&B found it beneficial to do some internal training in the beginning. See how they changed the culture within the factory itself from one of "this is the way we're doing it today, this is the way we'll do it tomorrow," to a culture of continuous improvement with shared resources.