The IW Best Plants 2014 show in Milwaukee offers attendees an opportunity to kick their continuous improvement program into high gear, and as these videos from the show illustrate, there are many ways for manufacturers to arrive at continuous improvement. The key is to get started... now.
The following videos offer just a hint at the strategies, solutions and best practices available to manufacturers who realize that maintaining the status quo won't get the job done in today's global marketplace. Moving forward, and ultimately going full throttle on a continuous improvement journey, is what the IW Best Plants program addresses.
In addition to the insights presented in the following video gallery, you can find many other IW Best Plants videos from the 2014 program as well as from previous years at our YouTube page. And check out these other articles and galleries from the Milwaukee program:
Nick Pinchuk: The Challenge of Choice in Continuous Improvement [EXCLUSIVE VIDEO INTERVIEW]
Excellence Up Close: IW Best Plants Conference
Making Kata Part of Your Daily Routine
Brandon Brown with the W3 Group explains the difference between kaizen and kata. He explains in this video interview with IndustryWeek's Andy Friedman that kata is a process of incremental, employee-involved continuous improvement that can yield tremendous benefits while achieving meaningful employee buy-in.
Continuous Improvement Management Platform
Roger Price from Phase 5 Group tells IndustryWeek's Steve Minter about the world's first continuous improvement management platform that they building. The company specializes in helping multi-site manufacturers manage continuous improvement in a systematic way across a distributed manufacturing footprint.
Rise of the 12-Hour Shift
John Frehse with Core Practice explains his theory that the 8-hour shift is dead (or soon will be), to be replaced by the 12-hour shift. Paying workers overtime is actually cheaper, Frehse says, for many manufacturers than adding additional workers.
Helping Small Manufacturers Compete Globally
How do small to medium sized manufacturers compete in the Global Market? Dileep Thatte from the National Institute of Standards and Technology explains how his organization helps companies learn new methods of manufacturing, technology transfer, workforce management skills and supply chain optimization.
Next Generation of Manufacturers
Dan Sloan from ToolingU SME talks about how his organization brings new technologies and new resources to employers of all sizes to help develop the next generation of new employees.
