If you have never heard the term Yokoten, prepare yourself. It has been added to the Lean Operations lexicon as an important activity. Yokoten is being used by lean firms to help them become leaner. Yokoten is a Japanese term that can be roughly translated as “across everywhere.”
Lean manufacturing principles and automation systems can coexist, although many lean purists contend that lean goals conflict with using automation. Smart applications of automation, however, can result in deployment of systems that are both automated and lean, with flexible manufacturing systems that can be easily reconfigured as factory operations change.
Earlier this year, at the 21st annual Shingo Prize conference awards ceremony, Autoliv Americas’ airbag module facility in Ogden, UT, was awarded The Shingo Prize for Operational Excellence. This was the second Shingo Prize won by the Autoliv Ogden Airbag Assembly (AOA) plant.
Taiichi Ohno is often quoted as declaring: “Without a standard, there can be no improvement.” The principles of lean do not work well when everyone is allowed to choose their own work method or work sequence in which to do a job: the outcome is unpredictable; flow and pull are impossible. This reduces throughput and the carefully crafted process develops unanticipated outcomes.
Common misperceptions about lean manufacturing and automation systems lead many manufacturing managers to dismiss the use of automation in a lean setting.
Open X Education, an interactive learning platform, in collaboration with Verisurf Software, Inc., announces the latest metrology learning program designed for those seeking a career in the fast-growing manufacturing and metrology industry.
Tide Rock Holdings, a San Diego-based holding company, recently acquired Plastic Molding Technology, a full-service precision injection molding company located in El Paso, Texas.
INDEX has announced the launch of iXacademy, a new online platform designed to provide manufacturers with training on a wide variety of topics in a flexible and convenient format.
U.S. cutting tools orders rose in October compared with a year earlier.
Advanced volumetric compensation … and making your machine tool act like a CMM.
