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JUNE 11, 2018

By Trey Jordan, Senior Software Consultant. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) has been around for decades. You’d think, by now, the industry would have it figured out. Yet, every year, we hear news about ERP implementations that fail. For every one of these high-profile flops, there are many, many more implementations that simply fail to live up to expectations.

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JUNE 4, 2018

Managing operations through multiple manufacturing systems can be challenging, but it’s a daily reality for many manufacturers. In this post, we’ll look at the pros and cons of consolidating ERP systems – and propose an alternative. When Two Worlds Collide. Whenever two or more organizations merge, they are almost always using different ERP systems.

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MAY 21, 2018

Three Ways Leaders Create Lean. “Relentless” leadership and team empowerment drive lean change. For those of you who have heard this before, it bears repeating. For those of you who have not, this is important – leadership is the single most important component to lean success. . It is exciting to talk about bottom-up change and expect that a ground swell of individuals in virtually every level of the organizational chart can succeed with lean—in spite of those in the C-suite that just d

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MAY 7, 2018

It seems not a week goes by when I don’t hear from someone in manufacturing: “You can’t manage what you can’t measure”. Of course, there is a lot of truth to that statement, but as someone who spends all day, every day, helping manufacturers gather real-time data for better operational performance, I believe the statement is incomplete. The axiom should be: “You can’t manage what you can’t measure consistently and accurately.”.

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APRIL 30, 2018

Earlier this year, the MAPI Foundation increased their projection for manufacturing sector growth for 2018 – 2021 from 1.5% to 2.8%. We haven’t seen overall growth like that in a long time, and it should spell a welcome relief for many manufacturers. Capital Spending: A Leading or Lagging Indicator of Profitability? One of the metrics that MAPI points to for their increased optimism is the pace of capital equipment spending.

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APRIL 23, 2018

Manufacturers use constraints management first to gain the most demand-driven change. Last time, we talked about focusing on enterprise improvements rather than local efficiencies using constraints management (TOC). We discussed that continuous improvement tools such as TOC, Lean and Six Sigma work like “sandpaper” on an organization’s processes, smoothing various stages of their demand-driven journey.

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APRIL 16, 2018

Gemba is a term that is increasingly familiar in the manufacturing world. Loosely translated from Japanese, it means “the place where the work is done.” The originators of the Gemba Walk – the practice of walking the shop floor to identify waste – knew that manufacturing process issues could not be identified or solved in the conference room or behind a desk.

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APRIL 9, 2018

What to Use to Get the Most of Your Demand-Driven Changes. Demand-driven manufacturing leaders are always refining their tools and tactics to ensure they’re spending their time wisely. This blog marks the first in a three-part series about using the tools of TOC, Six Sigma and Lean to help manufacturing leaders gain the most benefit from their demand-driven transformation.

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APRIL 2, 2018

. . Where to Start Your Lean Journey. There’s one sure-fire way to tell when someone has lived in Minneapolis long enough to be called a Minnesotan. No, it doesn’t involve rooting for the Vikings, though that helps. It’s when they can find their way around The Mall of America without a directory. Built in 1992, The Mall of America still ranks as the largest in the US with more than 500 stores, just about every kind of restaurant you can imagine, and last but not least, the 7-acre Nickelodeon

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MARCH 19, 2018

A few years ago, Aberdeen Group did a study that showed that 63% of “best in class” manufacturers still used spreadsheets for planning. With percentages this high, it’s probably safe to say that there is a lack of trust in planning tools like ERP and MRP even in the best-run companies. Of course, spreadsheets come with their own set of issues. You may have a certain amount of confidence in the spreadsheets you’ve created, but what about those from your colleagues?

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MARCH 4, 2018

Imagine this: You’re in a high-level planning meeting with senior leadership, when the CEO and CFO issue a clear mandate: Get inventory levels under control. The VP of Sales, never being one to hold back an opinion, steps in to argue that the organization needs to become more competitive if it’s to survive. Right now, your promised lead times are the longest in the industry – even longer considering how often your promised delivery dates are not met.

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FEBRUARY 26, 2018

Most manufacturers have, at one time or another, deployed an “ERP add-on.” These are the bits and pieces of functionality sold through third parties that round out the capabilities of an ERP system. Common ERP add-ons can include core functionality like Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) and Supply Chain Planning (SCP), but for major ERP systems, there are dozens if not hundreds of add-ons available.

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FEBRUARY 19, 2018

Through this guest blog series, my intent is to share some of my experiences implementing supplier quality and Lean manufacturing initiatives by focusing on eKanban systems. My first post offered advice for planning an eKanban rollout (advice that could be applied across any Lean manufacturing project). In my second installment, I reviewed strategies for rolling out an eKanban project that have proven successful for me.

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FEBRUARY 11, 2018

A new study in Modern Materials Handling reports that 86% of industrial organizations are currently adopting IoT (Internet of Things) solutions, and 84% believe those solutions are very or extremely effective. Manufacturers lagged behind the industrial segment as a whole, with only 77% of manufacturers implementing IoT in their facilities. So, what is holding manufacturers back?

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FEBRUARY 4, 2018

We talk a lot about constraints management in our work with customers who are implementing Demand-Driven Manufacturing (DDM) in their facilities. That’s because constraints management is fundamental for synchronizing the pace of production and keeping the demand (orders) flowing throughout the shop floor. But, our focus is naturally on physical constraints, e.g., that piece of equipment or workstation that is preventing you from delivering on time or offering shorter, more competitive lead times

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JANUARY 28, 2018

McKinsey Global Institute predicts the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) will have an economic impact of up to $11 billion by 2025. As much as $3.7 billion of that is expected to come from manufacturing improvements in things like operations management and predictive maintenance. The word seems to have gotten out. In a 2016 study conducted by Morgan Stanley and Automation World, 70% of respondents said it was important for their company to adopt an IoT strategy within the next five years.

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JANUARY 21, 2018

Demand-Driven Manufacturing seems like it was made for Make/Assemble-to-Order and Engineer-to-Order environments. It’s true that Demand-Driven Manufacturing can be beneficial for manufacturers who already produce goods based on customer demand because it improves their responsiveness to customers and lowers lead and cycle times. Demand-Driven Manufacturing is a method of manufacturing where production is based on actual customer orders (demand) rather than a forecast.

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JANUARY 14, 2018

Almost every manufacturer we talk to these days is in the process of implementing (or planning to implement) some sort of change in the way they approach operations: Theory of Constraints (TOC), Lean, Six Sigma, just to name a few. Our focus on demand-driven manufacturing tools and applications has given us a front-row seat to their efforts. Related post: Is Demand Manufacturing Lean?

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JANUARY 8, 2018

A few decades ago, Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) was a hot topic. Many manufacturers saw it as a way to reduce inventory levels and costs. If they could get their suppliers to maintain ownership of raw materials or subcontracted components until consumed, inventory levels would naturally drop—on paper anyway. Because they were giving most, or all of their business to one supplier, they were also in a position to negotiate better terms.

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DECEMBER 27, 2017

The decorations. The music. The food. The holiday season is a time of cheer and goodwill for many people. Nevertheless, there are two groups who may find each other especially trying this time of year: sales and production. That’s because this isn’t just the holiday season; it’s also the end of the fiscal year for many organizations. While everyone else has visions of sugarplums dancing in their heads, sales has a vision of only one thing: making quota.

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DECEMBER 18, 2017

by Jim Shore. Through this guest blog series, my intent is to share some of my experiences implementing supplier quality and Lean manufacturing initiatives by focusing on eKanban systems. My first post offered advice for planning an eKanban rollout (advice that could be applied across any Lean manufacturing project). In this installment, I’d like to talk about strategies for rolling out an eKanban project that have proven successful for me.

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DECEMBER 11, 2017

I often talk about pull manufacturing and Demand-Driven Manufacturing as though they are one and the same. That’s because, in my mind, they are. However, after reading through a couple of online articles this afternoon, it’s clear not everyone sees it that way. In fact, some of the various ways pull manufacturing is described on the Internet can be a bit confusing.

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DECEMBER 4, 2017

The global economic recession that started in 2007/2008 hit the manufacturing sector hard. In February of 2009, The Economist even published a piece called The Collapse of Manufacturing. If you recall, this was right about the time the automotive manufacturer bailouts kicked in because they, like the larger financial institutions, were deemed too important to the US economy to fail.

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NOVEMBER 20, 2017

In 2010, Gartner estimated that manufacturers outsourced about 70% of the products they make to other manufacturers. I haven’t seen a recent statistic, but that still feels about right. So, it only makes sense that, for most manufacturers, implementing modern demand-driven or pull-manufacturing techniques will require collaboration with many partners across the entire supply chain.

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NOVEMBER 13, 2017

Most experts agree. The metrics you use to manage your manufacturing operations need to matter, and they need to be actionable. We concur. For a detailed review of the operational metrics we recommend in a demand-driven manufacturing environment, refer to our Metrics for Action Guide. Conventional wisdom also says to keep the number of metrics you measure to a minimum.

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NOVEMBER 6, 2017

Many of our customers don’t start out looking to implement Demand-Driven Manufacturing per se. Often, they’re focused on Lean Manufacturing or at least some element of it. In fact, customers often find out about us as they search for an eKanban or production scheduling solution that will work with their current ERP system. However, at some point in the conversation, they will inevitably ask, “Is Demand-Driven Manufacturing the same thing as Lean Manufacturing?”.

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OCTOBER 30, 2017

by Jim Shore. Through this guest blog series, I’d like to share some of my experiences implementing supplier quality and Lean manufacturing initiatives by focusing on eKanban systems. This first entry offers advice for planning an eKanban rollout – suggestions that can also be applied across any Lean manufacturing project. As a result, my hope is that you, too, will experience successful Lean results.

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OCTOBER 16, 2017

Is enthusiasm for Big Data wavering? In 2015, McKinsey Global Institute claimed that the IIoT had the potential to create as much as $3.7 trillion in economic value in the global manufacturing sector by 2025. They also predicted that 80 to 100% of manufacturers will have implemented IIoT applications by then and already be reaping the benefits of data-driven insights into their operations.

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OCTOBER 11, 2017

The manual Kanban cards that were the precursor to Lean Manufacturing have evolved into eKanban systems that automate inventory replenishment and reduce material waste. READ MORE on our guest post on EBN, the premier online community for global supply chain professionals. The post Doing more with less: Learning from Kanban appeared first on Synchrono.

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JUNE 19, 2017

Jessica Twentyman reported in the Financial Times , that for many manufacturers, supply chain collaboration is stuck in the dark ages. When it comes to ordering materials and components, managing inventory levels, or organizing the delivery of finished goods to customers, companies are forced continually to chase business partners – mostly suppliers, logistics companies, and retailers – via a messy stream of emails, phone calls, and even faxes.

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APRIL 4, 2017

Driving Continuous Improvement. In Demand-Driven Manufacturing, there is only one measurement that is important to drive performance: Throughput. There are two subordinate measurements: Inventory and Operating Expense. These three measurements cover the gambit of what needs to be measured because they are directly related to customer orders, cash captured inside the organization, and the cash it takes to turn inventory into sales.

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MARCH 23, 2017

End-to-end Visibility for Real-time Coordination, Communication, and Commitment. By applying demand-driven methods and synchronizing processes, manufacturers are reaching new levels of communication, profitability, and customer responsiveness. Demand-Dr iven Manufacturing incorporates the best of Lean manufacturing, Theory of Constraints (TOC), and Lean Six Sigma principles.

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MARCH 6, 2017

Measure efficiency and productivity against your REAL goal. I keep seeing the word efficiency in the manufacturing media. For s omeone who is a Constraints Management person, this is the equivalent of saying “Ni” to the Knights Who Say Ni (Monty Python reference, okay?) or like scratching your fingernails across a blackboard. It is one of those words that I think we should remove from the English language.

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FEBRUARY 27, 2017

TR Cutler, Inc. Market Research (TMR) just released the results of a survey conducted in the first two weeks of February, 2017. The respondents were all discrete manufacturers and all held VP or C-level titles. The universe of completed surveys totaled 401 and inquired about the highest priorities for manufacturers today. (The sample size ensures statistical significance to a probability of +/- 3%).

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FEBRUARY 13, 2017

Measuring your strategic goals against their value and the time, money and attention they need. When we began our metrics discussion, we talked about how behaviors are too often dictated by metrics—and whether or not these behaviors actually “move the needle” for sustainable supply chain improvements. Mark Davidson’s blog about aligning metrics to larger goals and objectives covers this topic well.

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JANUARY 31, 2017

Part one of a multi-part series to help you measure your production efforts wisely. LNS Research blogger Mark Davidson said, “When it comes to metrics, it’s often said that what gets measured gets done.”. I have found this to be true when working with many different manufacturers. Mark also writes: “Metrics that have the attention of business and manufacturing leaders tend to be those that get measured and improved upon by their employee teams.”.

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DECEMBER 13, 2016

Process manufacturing is different, distinct, and distinguishable from discrete manufacturing. Process manufacturing uses formulations versus discrete manufacturers use Bills of Materials (BOMs) and assembles along a routing. Process manufacturers blend a batch – often a literal recipe found in food and beverage manufacturing. Discrete manufacturers are typically ETO (engineer-to-order), which includes make-to-stock (MTS), make-to-order (MTO), and assemble-to-order (ATO) production facilit

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