How Dozuki Builds a Proactive Safety Culture.

Manufacturing leaders know that safety is non-negotiable. But when processes are undocumented, feedback is unresolved, and training is outdated, even the most basic tasks...

How Top Manufacturers Prevent Errors Before They Happen

When a frontline worker makes a mistake, it's rarely due to carelessness. It's more often a failure of training, documentation, or communication. And in regulated industries,...

Manufacturing The Heavy Way: Unlocking Productivity Gains

Disruption is the new status quo in heavy equipment.Supply chain challenges continue to impact production.Covid accelerated labor trends that impact every part of the...

A Food Manufacturers Recipe for Quality

The status quo for food and beverage manufacturing has some new ingredients.Consider several of the social, economic, and cultural trends impacting the industry: ...

Quality Assurance in Manufacturing: An In-Depth Guide to Achieve Customer Confidence

It’s time to talk about quality. In this industry, quality is everything, and competition between manufacturers is fierce. Table of Content 1. Key Principles of Quality...

Push vs. Pull System in Manufacturing: A Complete Overview for Optimizing Production

fthoughtsManufacturing companies must carefully balance expenditure and revenue to remain profitable. It might sound simple when put that way, but every manufacturer knows...

Best Methods to Reduce Human Error in Manufacturing

In manufacturing, many factors need to be balanced and aligned for companies to be successful. And one of those factors includes the combination of humans and machines...

Best Practices to Maximize Production Capacity in Manufacturing | 2023

According to the numbers, manufacturing makes up around 12% of the U.S. GDP and provides jobs for 12.984 million Americans, or about 9.6% of all U.S. workers. In other words,...

Best Practices of Food Manufacturing Hygiene Standards

Food manufacturing companies have a responsibility to their customers to maintain high-quality control measures and hygiene standards. These practices are necessary to ensure...

5 Ways To Improve Quality Control in Manufacturing

In manufacturing, quality is everything. Businesses need to focus on creating products that are high quality enough to meet or exceed the customer's needs if they want to be...

Understanding Corrective Action vs. Preventative Action in Manufacturing

One of the most important aspects of a successful manufacturing organization is the ability to solve complex problems as they arise. In keeping with the continuous...

How To Reduce Defects in Manufacturing in 2022

Product defects are a pain at any manufacturing company. When all the time, energy, and money that is spent to produce a product is wasted due to defects in the final...

11 Common Manufacturing Challenges & Solutions | 2023

When it comes to industry, manufacturing might be one of the most challenging. Because of the high cost of doing business, the need for skilled workers, and an...

4 Indirect Ways to Improve Safety on the Plant Floor

Safety managers have a multitude of safety strategies to protect the health and safety of their workforce. From PPE guidelines, LOTO programs, fire exit signage, the list is...

How to Reduce Changeover Time with Standard Work Instructions

Many manufacturers see reducing changeover time as a golden opportunity to improve operational efficiency and reduce waste. For good reason, a simple reduction in changeover...

What's Wrong with Standard Work?

66% of companies fail in their attempts at Standard Work. This begs the question - what’s wrong with Standard Work? How can a seemingly simple methodology be so challenging...

Free Standard Operating Procedure & Work Instruction Templates

Standard operating procedure (SOP) and work instruction templates help standardize processes and present information consistently. We’ve seen thousands of examples of these...

What is Standard Work?

Lean operations and manufacturers have used Standard Work for decades, yet many companies lack clarity when it comes to this fundamental lean methodology. How is Standard...

How to Establish a Lean Culture in 4 Steps

An effective lean culture aims to reduce waste and inefficiency while improving the value delivered to customers. The lean organization is a model that’s been historically...

Kaizen and Standardization with Dr. Robert Maurer

We spoke with Dr. Robert Maurer, author of “Spirit of Kaizen,” a leading expert in the field of psychology and organizational change, about Kaizen and the role of...

11 Benefits of Standard Work

Taiichi Ohno, a founder of the Toyota Production System (TPS), had this to say about Standard Work, “without standards, there can be no Kaizen.” As the foundation for all...

Inside the Mind of an ISO Auditor

Getting inside the mind of an ISO 9001 auditor is crucial to a successful ISO audit. Think of it like a gift — even the best of presents can be unappealing when wrapped in...

Embracing Waste in a Lean Culture

These days, waste gets a bad rap. ‘Eliminating waste’ is such a common phrase among lean and six sigma practitioners, the two words are practically inseparable. The problem...

In Conversation with John Allwood

Standard Work is a concept that’s widely accepted among lean practitioners, yet doesn’t have a large body of text detailing its application. When used properly, Standard...

Vienna Sausage: A Story of Standards and Tribal Knowledge

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 ...

How to Perform a Time Observation

Without Standard Work, documented processes are often not used, or so out of date, that following them could become problematic. Standard Work is the foundation for any...

Top 10 Shigeo Shingo Quotes on Lean Manufacturing

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...

Navigating Processes: Standard Work vs. Work Instructions

The manufacturing industry is a professional arena with an overwhelming variety of industry terms and acronyms. We’ve tried to make a list of the most common Lean terms...

Why Standard Work is a Contradiction

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,...

Implementing Continuous Improvement with Dozuki

Is your company interested in reaping the benefits of continuous improvement (transparency, efficiency, cost reductions, etc.) but aren't sure where to begin? Dozuki has you...

What Caused the False Missile Alert in Hawaii

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...

Hidden Waste: The Unseen Inefficiency in Shop Travelers

Travelers and build books are intimately related, however, with traditional methods they often function independently. This gap between the travelers and build books creates...

The Ultimate Lean Glossary

The world of Lean Manufacturing is full of acronyms and industry buzzwords. No glossary could encompass the full breadth of terminology, but it’s always helpful to have a...

Got Standards? The Million Dollar Grammar Mistake

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...

Skip the Busy Work and Focus on Improving

Whether you’re implementing new software or a new machine on the factory floor, continuous improvement projects take time to get set up before they, well…improve things. ...

Millennials, Vinyls, and Documentation

Vinyl is in the midst of a comeback. Perhaps it’s due to the unpredictable whims of Millennial trends. Or, perhaps it’s the byproduct of a digital backlash from consumers...

Lean Startups Need to Start Documenting to Scale

For startups that have begun to establish themselves as a sustainable business, growing pains are only a matter of time. Any experienced entrepreneur will tell you that...

How Sloppy Revision Control Cost WIPP Half a Billion Dollars

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...

Upgrading Processes with Continuous Improvement

Many companies implement formal versions of Lean or Agile methods, but others have grown with the flexibility that continuous improvement provides, giving them the freedom to...

Electronic Work Instructions for Field Technicians

Who is Sterling Bank Services? Sterling Bank Services is a consultative solution, based in Montana and designed for the maintenance and security of bank equipment...