Miles Free Director of Industry Affairs, PMPA
Value-Added--A Closer Look
I was pleased with the feedback that we received from readers on our March 2008 article on “Value Added — The Key To Profitability.” Before tackling the points brought up by readers, let’s review what I mean by “value added.”
Read MoreMaterial Impacts On The Precision Machining Industry - April 2008
Prices are rising in materials needed for precision machining despite the economic malaise, lead by the dramatic $162 per ton increase to #1 bundles this week. Dumping cases against Chinese firms for fasteners, threaded rod, and pipe and tube are making news around the world. The talking heads on the TV news shows all seem to agree that there is a slowdown going on. Could someone please tell the Commodities that the Precision Machining Industry consumes that that is the case?
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Personal Protective Equipment And The Precision Machining Industry
If the OSHA inspector arrived today, would your system provide documented evidence of training, enforcement and retraining?
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“Value Added” — The Key To Profitability
So what is “value added” and how do we know what is adding value versus adding costs?
Read MoreMaterial Impacts On The Precision Machining Industry - Feb. 2008
Despite locally soft demand, ongoing price increases here in North America are the result of increased consumption of copper, steel, stainless steel and aluminum per capita globally. Price increases in cold finished steel bars have been announced for April, and higher surcharges are forecast for stainless steel in March. Click here to read the complete Materials Impact Report (PDF format): Materials Impacts On The Precision Machining Industry - Feb 2008
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Quality’s Role In Marketing
Having spent more than 20 years in the field of quality management—as well as holding a couple of simultaneous assignments in marketing and operations—I’d just love to tell you about the importance of quality in marketing. Unfortunately, I can’t.
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Critical Spares
Planning for necessary raw materials and tooling is critical for meeting production schedules in our shops. Just as important is planning to have the critical maintenance spares needed to keep our production assets up and running.
Read MoreBusiness Policy Roles At Your Company
Giving employees a clear understanding company policies and the their ability to apply discretion will foster better decision-making throughout the organization.
Read MorePreparing Your Crisis Control Plan
Effective management of risk, commitment to serve the customer and get to a win-win resolution, and a truly competent, empowered team are key to succeeding in crisis situations. But the organizational steps you take before any crisis occurs are the real keys to your company’s crisis control success.
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Can I Do It With Less?
There is one indisputable lesson that applies to us in manufacturing: We must get more and more functionality out of less and less material. This is the result of continuous improvement, economic competition and the application of engineering principles.
Read MoreEmpowerment – How Do They Know?
The trend to flatter organizations has made it necessary for people throughout our companies to make decisions and take immediate action. Our customers demand 100-percent on-time and zero-parts-per-million defects rates. This makes it mandatory that every person who recognizes a nonconforming condition must take immediate action.
Read MoreWhy Is This Here?
Two essential principles to help you establish “lean” in your operations.
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