Charitable Excellence - Hurricane Katrina
31 August 2005
There's a world-wide "blogathon" happening today to raise support for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. If you would like to make a cont…
Finding Excellence on a Resume
28 August 2005
Several months ago I was helping a local company fill some critical manufacturing technician positions. This area has very low unemployment with a ver…
Two Faces of Excellence
22 August 2005
A contract manufacturing company I'm familiar with currently has two medical device customers who are arch competitors. This manufacturer makes b…
The Myth of the Battered American Manufacturer
14 August 2005
I've always enjoyed reading columns by Alan Reynolds as he takes the time to really peel back the onion on data and statistics. Occassionally I…
Mass Customization for a Customer of One
7 August 2005
We previously introduced you to Fab, the book on personal fabrication by Neil Gershenfeld. The following is a longer review by your editor, which will…
Global Competition and Lean Manufacturing
20 July 2005
Advanced Manufacturing has a thought-provoking article on the need to rebuild our factories if we are to compete. The premise is that simply implement…
The Quality of Lean
14 July 2005
For good reason Toyota is used as the premier example of manufacturing excellence. But 2005 has has been a difficult time for the company. Some of the…
Toyota Home - Applying the Toyota Production System to Home Building
30 June 2005
Toyota is all about cars and trucks, right? Not quite. I was just pointed to the Toyota Home page on Toyota's website, which briefly describes Toy…