Deloitte research suggests that "smart factory" initiatives have yielded an average of 10-12% increase in labor productivity gains. Despite this success, a majority of manufacturers are still hesitant to move forward. On average, the industry only sees an increase of 0.7% in labor productivity each year. This represents a lack of investment in workforce performance and new technologies.

Early smart factory adopters reap twice as many benefits—reporting a 20% increase in labor productivity. 

The ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic has forced companies of all types to rapidly update policies and procedures governing how they share information in response to a world that is constantly changing around them. For the manufacturing sector in particular, their workforce is more spread out than it has ever been.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, 3M has been integral in maintaining domestic and international supplies of essential PPE. These production and supply chain challenges required innovation in order to train new employees faster and leverage a culture of continuous improvement.

While many industrial businesses are impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, good news for U.S. manufacturers may be on the horizon. In the recent April industry report by ThomasNet, "COVID-19 Impact on North American Manufacturing," two out of three manufacturers are looking to re-shore as production begins to pick back up. This may lead to a domestic manufacturing boom here in the United States, as companies revaluate their supply chain.

We are hearing a lot of great advice from our audience and customers about how to keep manufacturing and industrial operations running smoothly in the midst of a global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. This article is intended to centralize a lot of this information so others can continue to operate while protecting the health and safety of their workforce.

Today we are happy to announce our collaboration with 3M, through an investment by 3M Ventures, to bring our standard work and work instruction training software to manufacturers of all sizes to help them achieve digital transformation goals. 

In the past, we put together a dream team of manufacturing icons and their contributions. In celebration of Manufacturing Day 2018, we’d like to share key statistics to highlight contributions manufacturing has made over history, and upcoming industry challenges.

There is a pending manufacturing skills gap impacting the United States workforce. Millions of positions are expected to go unfilled in the coming years, with reports estimating over 2 million positions will need to be filled by 2025.

Imagine that you lost the ability to make your key product.

What if your core revenue driver was suddenly different...

And you didn't know why.

We recently came across a radio segment that outlined a similar problem that Chicago-based Vienna Beef had with their hot dog production. After the company made the transition to a new production facility, their staple product changed — and nobody knew why.

Shigeo Singo: The Ambassador of Lean

Shigeo Shingo was an industry leader of Lean manufacturing principles and philosophies. Originally brought on by Toyota to update their Training within Industry (TWI) coursework and later assisting in improving changeover times, Shigeo used his experience with the Toyota Production System to write several books, both in Japan and the United States. His work promoting Lean principles in the West is what he is most known for today.

We recently wrote a popular article about a major mistake at a nuclear waste facility. In short, we cited poor standard revision processes as the root cause of the mistake, costing the company $500 million to remediate.

Apparently, it was a simple mistake that caused the false missile alert to be sent to phones across the state of Hawaii. And while citizens were still recovering from the disorienting news, media outlets were quick to place blame. 

Henry Ford was a very quotable man. His timeless insights range from practical business tips to clairvoyant-esque predictions about the dairy industry.

Maine based Oakhurst Dairy was recently sued by a handful of truck drivers seeking more than four years worth of overtime pay—but the suit wasn’t about milk distribution at all. Rather, the legal battle revolved around the use (or lack thereof) of a single comma. But grammar wasn’t the problem—standards were.

In 2014 a nuclear Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in Carlsbad, NM was the victim of poor revision control practices that lead to a half-billion dollar mistake; shutting down the facility for three years and sending six workers to the hospital.

As we were plotting our celebration for 2016's Manufacturing Day, the Dozuki team got into a few squabbles about who the 'best manufacturing mind of all time' would be. (Spoiler alert: we couldn't settle on a favorite).

Whether you’re in aerospace or automotive, medical device or dairy—it’s important that your manufacturing company grows while keeping up with the latest innovations. In honor of Manufacturing Day 2015, here are 5 easy ways you can quickly and easily give your operations a boost—today!