Filling out an 8D report means following a highly-structured approach to understanding, addressing, and (in the future) avoiding a problem. It is particularly effective for issues that are important and relatively complex. … [Read more...]
A Good Way To Analyze Data to Drive Process Improvements
I just read the book Measures of Success by Mark Graban, and I found it does a great job of covering the basics of how managers should work with data. His whole approach is largely based on concepts from Don Wheeler's books. If you are not familiar with Don Wheeler, he is the most respected manufacturing-focused statistician of the past 30 years. Graban covers what to do in two cases managers don't like to see. Case 1: an unstable process leading to a widely fluctuating … [Read more...]
How Quality Planning Drives QC and Process Improvement
What does quality management consist of? Juran wrote about this first in 1986, and he suggested 3 types of activities that make up the "Juran trilogy": Planning Quality control Improvement … [Read more...]
All about the Metal Machining Process, Surface Finishes, and Tolerances [videos]
For all the talk about 3D printing (also called additive manufacturing), the vast majority of metal products are shaped into their final form by subtracting material using metal machining processes. Even when a component or product is cast, it is nearly always finished on a CNC machine. If your products include metal components, some material is very likely to be subtracted at some point of its fabrication. So, our senior engineer Paul prepared a series of videos that cover (nearly) all … [Read more...]
What Are the Process Inputs & Parameters to Keep under Control?
In our daily jobs, we are in contact with hundreds of different manufacturing processes. We don't always have time to observe the process and use tools such as flow charts, FMEAs, and so on. If that's the case, how do we keep control more easily? … [Read more...]
3 Basic Process Improvement Tools: Flow Chart, FMEA, Control Plan
There are 3 basic process improvement tools that you can use to help you plan ahead to avoid missteps that might be quite costly: The Process flow chart The Process FMEA (Failure Mode & Effects Analysis) The control plan (both for product and for the process) And there is a logical order that you can follow. This is very relevant in these situations: If you wonder why you still suffer from quality issues, even though the process is quite mature and seems to be well … [Read more...]
How to reduce costs in a factory? The lean approach.
The number one challenge of Chinese suppliers is price, as revealed by a recent survey. Their costs keep rising, but price competition is stronger and stronger. Factory owners spend a lot of time trying to reduce costs. Unfortunately, they tend to focus only on three levers to keep their costs under control: Negotiating down material prices; Limiting salary raises; Pushing the employees to work hard, for long hours. These are actually NOT the main drivers of cost though... … [Read more...]