Manufacturing Products

Small businesses often fail because owners are unaware of the many elements that can prevent the business from growing and being successful. Often, small businesses are organized around the manager's specific area of expertise, such as marketing, accounting or production. This specialized expertise often prevents the busi¬ness owner from recognizing problems that may arise in other parts of the business. This guide will provide you, the small busi¬ness entrepreneur, with the essentials for conducting a comprehensive search for existing or potential problems in your production system. This...

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.

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 ...

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 ...

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...

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.

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.

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 ...

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?

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.

Many kaizen programs aim to have a continuous flow, which means processes are constantly moving without interruptions. This is also the ultimate goal of lean production. A "cell" is a group of devices that perform tasks in a certain order, but it is not often to find a smooth and uninterrupted process, which is what makes a cell. In an ideal world, the product would flow smoothly from the beginning to the end, reaching the customer through all the stages of its production. But that would be too much to handle all at once. We need a place where we can focus. That place uses a system called a...

Toyota Motor Corporation made a system to make good products, save money, and make things faster by using less waste. TPS has two main parts, just-in-time and jidoka. It is often shown as a "house" image. To improve TPS and keep it running well, we use a process called PDCA or the scientific method. We do this by doing the same tasks over and over again and making small improvements called kaizen. TPS was created by Taiichi Ohno, who managed production at Toyota after World War II. Ohno began using TPS at Toyota in the 1950s and 1960s, starting with machining work. Then, he started using it...

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.

Yes, people called the Toyota Production System an inventory reduction program when they first heard of it. “Just in time” is one of the main pillars in the TPS. “Just in time” ideally means “one-piece flow.” Inventory is the greatest waste in the process, and it hides many problems, such as quality problems, breakdown times, waiting waste, and more. Let’s get back to history. Prior to the 1970 oil crisis, very few people in the world know what Toyota was up to. The fact that it emerged stronger than ever while many of its competitors were quite battered made people take ...

The real purpose of 5S is more than just cleaning up once. The 5S method helps to make standards that show problems, keep things stable so we can make small improvements, reduce waste, make a focused and organized workplace, and work together to keep getting better. Visual Thinking describes the 5S system as creating a work environment that is easy to understand, organized, and always getting better.