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So far MPI Editor has created 39 blog entries.
7 11, 2022

Doing the Gemba Walk for Digital Profits

By |2022-11-07T18:34:43+00:00November 7th, 2022|Lean, Manufacturing, Process Improvement|Comments Off on Doing the Gemba Walk for Digital Profits

If you know lean, you’re already familiar with the “gemba walk” (quick refresher: the Toyota/lean idea of “going to the gemba” means to observe the work in the actual place where it happens). The Digital Transformation for Manufacturers project (an MPI collaboration funded by the U.S. Department of Commerce) has everything you need to know about how to take a gemba walk that helps your company become the digital leader it was born to be. How? By deepening focus: as a team walks through a facility, it identifies a digital weakness —and then team members wrap their cross-functional brains [...]

17 10, 2022

The New Math of Manufacturing

By |2022-10-17T16:23:46+00:00October 17th, 2022|Innovation, Next Generation Manufacturing, Strategy|Comments Off on The New Math of Manufacturing

Come with me, for a moment, to the plant floor of the well-respected (albeit fictional) drill manufacturer, Grunnings. Plant Manager Vernon Dursley is evaluating his energy costs — and finds the recent increases to resemble nothing so much as bad witchcraft. As his complexion turns an unpleasant shade of purple, his Assistant Manager chimes in: “Look, it’s painful, but energy is overhead — we just have to bite the drill bit and write a check.” And so it was, for a couple hundred years (more or less). Energy costs were an unfathomable, seemingly unfixable drain on profits. It could [...]

30 09, 2022

The Curious Case of the Small Business (Q&A)

By |2022-09-30T15:13:41+00:00September 30th, 2022|Interview, John R. Brandt, Small Business Advice|Comments Off on The Curious Case of the Small Business (Q&A)

MPI Insight sat down with MPI CEO John Brandt to talk about the challenges and opportunities for small business owners right now, and to spotlight case studies in performance improvement excellence with a small team. MPI Insight: In your writing, you always make a point to use case studies from small businesses, often with 20 employees or fewer. Why do you make a habit of focusing on small business? John: Many times if you’re learning about a business concept or how a business can get better, you’ll go online or read a magazine to find examples, but they're almost always huge [...]