Manufacturing Products

On December 3, 2009, Frishberg & Partners together with Swedbank held a workshop on “Customs and Import Duties: Dealing with Today’s Problems”, presented by Alex Frishberg and Vladimir Lukovich of Frishberg & Partners, and Eduard Terpitsky and Anastasia Dokuka.

Today the market entry for new ideas and entrepreneurs is easier than ever as the digital age is reshaping how business is done. Through digitalization, the business environment has become highly open and widely connected. The combinations of digital technologies like edge computing and artificial intelligence, AI, enable new business model opportunities. In this fast-changing environment, the most important thing is to learn as fast as possible what to do next and what is worth doing at all.

The act of changing a line or machine from making one product to making another is called changeover. Changeover is when we switch from making one product (product A) to making a different product (product B). This involves getting the machines ready and getting everything prepared for the new process. It is considered a waste of time because you are not using the machine at that time, which means you are not producing anything. Additionally, you are still paying the operators and workers even though they are not being productive during that time. When automobile companies need to make new ...

This book, "Enlarging Your Problem-solving footprint" is about involving floor-level personnel in daily improvements as you strive to achieve a TPS-Lean culture. The problematic management paradigm that must be shifted is that these people have been systematically and consciously removed from problem-solving activities. Much of the literature on lean manufacturing has lost sight of the basis of the Toyota Production System, which is, "cost reduction through the elimination of waste." To achieve this objective, you must make two large paradigm shifts, and a litany of lesser ones. First, to ...

We live in a world of seemingly limitless consumer choice. Yet, as every shopper knows without thinking about it, many everyday goods—from beds to batteries to printer paper—are available in a finite number of "standard sizes." What makes these sizes "standard" is an agreement among competing firms to make or sell products with the same limited dimensions. But how did firms—often hotly competing firms—reach such collective agreements?

Working with sewing factories in Vietnam requires steps like choosing your fabric, trims, and accessories which I cover in detail. I explain how to get samples made and negotiate price. I give you insider tips about using tech packs and bonding with factory staff. I prepare you for production steps and shipping options you will need to produce apparel in Vietnam.

Conquer the Fabrication and Precision Assembly Field: Your Guide to a Career Building Finished Products and the Parts That Go into Them is your comprehensive resource for mastering a career in one of the most dynamic and rewarding sectors of modern manufacturing. This guide explores the essential skills, tools, and techniques needed to thrive as an assembler or fabricator, whether you’re building intricate electronic components or assembling large structural elements. From interpreting blueprints and operating CNC machines to understanding automation and robotics, the book provides ...

This book is part of a series that provides short and simple explanations of different professions. It focuses on skilled trades in manufacturing including electrical, plumbing, welding, heating and cooling, machinery, carpentry, tool & die, and model making. Each trade is described and the education and training necessary for certification or licensing are discussed. Examples are provided for further clarification, and the text is written for easy understanding at all reader levels.

Overall equipment efficiency (OEE) shows how well a machine or equipment is performing by comparing the number of defect-free products or parts it makes to its maximum potential output. The OEE of a machine or process at 100 percent means that it is working at its highest possible capacity without any errors. There are three things that make up OEE: availability, performance, and quality. When the actual output is less than expected, professionals can identify areas of improvement in three factors and make changes that maximize the capabilities of the current process, resolve issues, and ...

To save money during the economic downturn, many businesses are using abstinence policies. This might mean firing employees and reducing pay for some people. Actually, those actions might only work for a little while. If the company doesn't make a culture of always getting better and change how it works, the problem might happen again and get even worse. This takes us back to the reason why the Toyota production system was created. Waste means something that takes up resources, but doesn't give anything back to the customer. Many activities are not useful and can be divided into two ...

Production kanban, which translates to "sign" or "signboard" in Japanese, instructs an upstream process on the kind and number of goods to produce for a downstream process. In a pull system, a kanban is a signalling tool that provides approval and instructions for the manufacture or withdrawal (conveyance) of products. The conveyance used by the downstream process is referred to as the "withdrawal." The assembly process and the client, the assembly process and the supplier process, and the supplier process and the vendor all benefit from kanban. The Toyota production system is founded on ...

Heijunka, which means "production smoothing or leveling" in Japanese, is a method that helps balance production in all areas and with suppliers over time. It aims to make Just-In-Time (JIT) production easier. Heijunka is an important part of Just-in-Time (JIT) production. It means finding and keeping a consistent level of production. The main purpose of using the Heijunka technique is to provide goods at a consistent pace, which allows other operationsto also run smoothly and predictably. This helps decrease wastes and the amount of inventory.

Poka-yoke is a Japanese word that means "error-proofing". It involves using simple and cheap tools to help workers avoid making mistakes in their work. These devices prevent errors like using the wrong parts, forgetting to put in a part, or installing a part the wrong way. In simpler words, in Japanese, "poka" means making a mistake by accident, and "yoke" means stopping or avoiding the mistake. Have you ever wondered why Japanese cars are known for being reliable. Even cars that are 20 years old can still run well and keep up with the newest and top cars in the automobile industry. This is...

In recent years, financial professionals have been using outdated ideas and methods to judge how well companies are doing and give feedback to the bosses. This helps the executives and CEOs figure out what changes they need to make and make important choices. The boss wants assistance in locating the means to finance a new project. He wants to find areas where we can reduce costs in our products and services, as well as determine if changes made have led to making more money. The CEO wants assistance in understanding how the company has gotten better or worse and what the future will be ...

A way to control production where activities that come after in the process communicate what they need to activities that come before. Pull production aims to reduce or remove excessive production and is one of the three key elements of a complete just-in-time production system. In pull production, a step that comes after another step, either in the same place or somewhere else, tells the step before it what stuff or materials are required, how much is needed, and when and where it should be delivered. The supplier doesn't make anything until the customer asks for it. This means the ...

Giving machines and operators the power to notice when something is wrong and quickly pause their work. This helps companies to increase quality at every step of the process and to have workers and machines work separately for better efficiency. Jidoka is a fundamental concept in the Toyota Production System, which is an important way of doing things in Toyota factories. It is one of the two main principles, along with just-in-time. Jidoka is a system that helps identify problems quickly because if a problem happens, work immediately stops. This helps make things better and prevents ...

The most important thing in standardized work is finding a balance between giving employees strict rules to follow and allowing them to be creative and come up with new ideas to consistently meet difficult goals like cost, quality, and delivery. The secret to finding the right balance depends on how standards are written and who helps create them.

Andon is a system that alerts people to problems before they happen, in order to make the process more efficient and prevent issues. In manufacturing, an andon is a system that tells managers, maintenance workers, and other employees about a problem with quality or the manufacturing process. But is this all that Andon being?Andon is a system that alerts people to problems before they happen, in order to make the process more efficient and prevent issues. In manufacturing, an andon is a system that tells managers, maintenance workers, and other employees about a problem with quality or the ...

Takt is a German word that means the speed or rhythm of something. Takt time is a number that helps make sure that the pace of making pacemakers matches the pace of selling them. One of the most important things to consider in lean manufacturing is takt time. This is the rate at which customers want a certain group of products to be produced by one step in the manufacturing process. Takt time is a number that tells us how much time we have to make each item that the customer wants. Takt time is the time available for manufacturing divided by the number of orders. In the 1930s, the German ...

Using lean metrics in non-manufacturing processes can help make things work better and make customers happier. The ideas of lean thinking, like finding what's valuable, getting rid of waste, and always trying to get better, work for all kinds of businesses. This book has lots of examples to show how lean principles can be used in non-manufacturing areas like healthcare, accounting, and maintenance.