My “Lean” Journey 2 – Counting Raisins
Day 2-5: I wake up as dawn breaks and roll up my blanket only to find a 6 inch scorpion had crawled underneath to keep warm. This will form a nice mental image for me for the next 2 weeks, thanks a...
View ArticleMy “Lean” Journey 3 – Getting there Right!
Days 6-8: Survival basics mean get three things done first: shelter, water, and food. After that comes navigation, get out of the situation, period. There is a concept the instructors teach called...
View ArticleMy “Lean” Journey 4 – Feeling Solo (So Low)
Days 9-12: The final part of the survival course is called SOLO. The instructors take each student out to a remote stretch of wilderness and leave you there for 3 days straight, alone. You are not...
View ArticleMy Lean Journey: Mutiny!
As part of the BOSS course, each individual in the group is assigned as leader for one day. That individual is responsible for navigation, food, water, breaks and getting you to the next campsite. This...
View ArticleMy Lean Journey – 10 Best Practices of Survival
The BOSS course teaches many life lessons that parallel Lean, here are Ten Lean best practices. My Lean Bible is actually “Lean for Dummies” by Sayer and Williams, a great resource book to refer to,...
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Experts By Association: Guest Blog Top Benefits of Extending Your ERP to...
Contributed by Norman Carmichael, Manufacturing Practice Director at Columbus Do you struggle with making sure your engineering resources aren’t caught up in the sales process, manufacturing has the...
View ArticleExperts By Association: Guest Blog Why Quality Matters for Industrial...
When industrial equipment manufacturers evaluate ERP software, one of the key categories on the checklist is quality management. There seems to be a consensus that any Enterprise Resource Planning...
View ArticleExperts By Association: Guest Blog 4 Benefits that Business Process Modeling...
Contributed by Norman Carmichael, Manufacturing Practice Director at Columbus We’ve all heard the stories about ERP implementations that have gone wrong and for many manufacturing businesses it can be...
View ArticleHow Technology Changed the IEM Business Model
It’s interesting to watch the evolution of technology in the manufacturing sector simply because most manufacturing companies have traditionally been lagging in that regard. However, I have seen almost...
View ArticleMicrosoft’s Evolution to Industry
A man walks into the doctor’s office and explains he is having pains in his lower back. The doctor asks a series of questions related to the symptoms, pulls out a little hammer and taps the man just...
View ArticleEcosystem: Extension to ERP
I want to coin a phrase now that I get to write this cool blog. Let’s call it “EERP”, or Extended ERP. An Ecosystem uses ERP or Core Four (Manufacturing, Distribution, Quality and Finance) as its...
View Article“Driving” Home the Microsoft Partner Model – Part I
Over the last 6 months I have been surprised at the number of times the Microsoft partner model has come into question. Our competitors seem to feel as if it’s … Read More
View ArticleConvincing Corporate That Your Subsidiaries Need ERP
In my recent webinar with Michael Fera, KUKA Systems’ Director of IT, he said something regarding ERP implementations that really stood out in my mind. “The technical part is the easy part.” —Michael...
View ArticleAffordable MES for the Midmarket
I have been preaching the Shop Floor to Top Floor mantra for many years now but deep inside I knew it would never happen in the mid-market in my lifetime. Companies that are successful in connecting...
View ArticleExperts By Association: Guest Blog From Shop Floor to Top Floor – Success is...
Contributed by John Rattray, V.P., Memex Automation Inc. Imagine improving your manufacturing capacity by 10 to 50 percent. Sounds almost too good to be true, doesn’t it? A lot of manufacturing … Read...
View ArticleThe Scoop on Demand Planning
In keeping with our “Ecosystem for Manufacturing” theme these last few months I wanted to talk about Demand Planning. As you know R3 (the next release of Microsoft AX ERP Solution) will contain an...
View ArticleBiting the Apple: Advanced Scheduling
I hope to play 12 rounds of golf on Hilton Head Island this year, hoping to improve my game. I also have a 12:15 tee time this Saturday at Hilton … Read More
View ArticleExperts By Association: Guest Blog The Bottom Line Impact of Lean Thinking
Contributed by Phil Coy, Managing Director – Strategic Services (mcaConnect) Having been around lean for quite a while and read countless lean blog postings, I continue to be surprised by the … Read More
View ArticleExperts By Association: Guest Blog Cutting the Gordian Knot of High Mix/Low...
Contributed by Managing Director – Strategic Services (mcaConnect) According to legend, Alexander the Great had to untangle the Gordian Knot tied by the gods to claim rightful kingship. In 333 BC, …...
View ArticleAlphabet Soup
DP, APS and S&OP are all examples of advanced planning tools required to run complex manufacturing companies who have ERP – but are looking to move to “best in class” status. Humans can make...
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