White Papers

Lean Enterprise Strategy

Status of Lean – Alive and Well, or Dead?

Numerous articles have been written about the current status of Lean not only in manufacturing, but its applicability in all arenas of work. They typically revolve around quick win success stories related to the implementation of Lean tools and techniques and the general thinking is that when it fails, it is due to poor management. Most would agree that without a Lean transform

Culture

Culture as Asset

This article addresses a commonly discussed concept—organizational culture. Drawing from years of industry experience assisting companies in organizational change efforts, we argue that there is ample opportunity for culture to function as an asset versus a cost. Most importantly, we highlight the manner in which targeted cultural initiatives can be leveraged to help companie

Automation

5 Ways Augmented Reality Can Help Auto Manufacturers

Smart manufacturing technologies are evolving at a rapid pace leaving those who ignore these new opportunities at risk of falling behind their more innovative competitors. Plant owners and managers are on constant lookout for ways to improve performance, increase efficiency, and reduce costs - all while not installing any new equipment. Augmented reality (AR) technologies ar

Hiring

All Play and No Work: How to Win the Race for Top Talent

How to Attract the Next Generation of Workers “Manufacturing never interested me, partly because I was never exposed to it. No one in my family worked in manufacturing, and it was never strongly encouraged or explained during my education, despite living in the Rust Belt.”, stated Claire, a high school student recently interviewed by Industry Week. Claire’s percep

Featured

Visual Management

Visual Management

A Visual Management Process as a Lever of Culture Change Introduction: A visual management process, in the context of lean, represents a suite of behaviors, practices, and norms that can aid organizations in speed of decision making and improved outputs, this is well known, what is less appreciated is the role it can play in culture change. How might a visual management proc