FROM THE FACTORY FLOOR
Blog
Notes, lessons and field-tested thinking on offsite manufacturing, lean operations and building businesses that last.
Moving From Best to Next Practices
By Ben Hershey, President & Coach, 4Ward Consulting Group, LLC As an industry, there are many times I believe we have been behind the curve in adopting/taking on new technology or hardware in our operations. Over the past 15 years or so, we have seen incredible growth in the use of automation, software, etc., but other industries have far exceeded...
Emerging Pillars for Business Success
By Ben Hershey, President & Coach, 4Ward Consulting Group, LLC As companies grow and change, we should ask ourselves—what are the essential pillars of support that help companies succeed? While making changes that will transform their businesses, successful companies will rely on core pillars that form the foundation of who they will be in the future. The characteristics that I...
Change Your Dynamic By Investing in Your Team
By Ben Hershey, President & Coach, 4Ward Consulting Group, LLC What is the difference between companies which are stuck in the status quo and those which are transforming themselves into the leader in their industry? One significant difference is their focus on Continuous Improvement. By focusing on making things better—People, Projects, and Process—these leading companies are increasing annual revenue and...
Break Through Your Box
How many times have you seen your competitor or other businesses in your area copy what you produce or offer? Maybe it is the kind of company that takes a photo of some trusses, puts themselves in front of it, and says, “Look at me, I am the same kind of company they are.” Flattery is great, but is it...
Disruptive Innovation with LBM/Component Companies
Over the years, our industry has seen a lot of innovation in how we handle materials, how we manufacture, and how we take a house from an idea to a component using the computer. But, over the past few years, we have seen an acceleration in big ideas, disruption, and we we can do using technology developed in ours and...
Continuous Improvement Culture
While speaking at a recent conference, I was asked a really good question from one of the executives of a Component/LBM company. His question prompted me to think about how I would start 2018 off in my articles. The question was: “Our company does not have an incentive program in place though we arbitrarily reward performance at the end of...
Tim Woods Series
No Waste Path Using Tim WoodsDecember 2017Skills Play a Vital Role in Lean ManagementNovember 2017Improve Your Production Processes and say "NO" to WasteSeptember 2017Improve Your Motion and WaitingAugust 2017Open Your Eyes to OverproductionJune 2017How Quality Control is Essential in your Lean ProgramApril 2017 Inventory Could be Costing You More Than You ThinkMarch 2017Transportation Waste is More Evident Than You ThinkFebruary...
Why Coaching is Important to Continuous Improvement
It’s 2017, Happy New Year! If you are like me, you spend the later part of the year setting goals for the coming year and planning how to accomplish them. For those who work for me, I always set goals, metrics, and participate in a conference on how we are going to achieve what we want together. Over the last...
Establishing Your Lean Strategy
Many of today’s Component Manufacturers are considering some measure of Lean implementations. Most are based on a series of what are essentially isolated Kaizen-based waste reductions projects. In selecting areas in their operations, a CM will look at the perceived waste (savings) available; those areas with more waste reduction potential get a higher priority. While such a project selection approach may actually...
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