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.
In a world where machine shops are struggling to stay open and maintain their business and in a day when “going into dad’s business” is not what it once was, Platinum Tooling is an exception to the rule.
Xometry today announced the acquisition of Thomas (Thomasnet.com), a leader in product sourcing, supplier selection, and digital marketing solutions.
Mary Barra, CEO of General Motors Co., used an appearance to reflect on her tenure and to play up the automaker's prospects.
Machine tool orders in October soared compared with a year earlier, AMT – The Association for Manufacturing Technology said today.
The COVID-19 pandemic revealed how 40 years of increasing dependence on imports and the resulting hollowing out of U.S. manufacturing has created unacceptable national vulnerabilities.
