Pareto Principle
What Is the Pareto Principle? Have you ever heard of the 80/20 rule? It is the phenomenon that 80% of consequences come from 20% of causes. This principle can be seen in action across multiple areas of study like ecological environments, societal structures, work time management, and even language. To wrap our minds around it, […]
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
What is PPE? PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) is considered to be any article of clothing or wearable equipment that shields and/or protects a person from injury. This includes reflective vests, hard hats, safety glasses, hazmat suits, and more than we can list. Accidents and mishaps are inevitable factors within our daily lives. From working on […]
Poka Yoke
Poka yoke is a Japanese term that means “mistake-proofing” or “error-proofing.” It is a quality control method that aims to prevent mistakes or errors from occurring in the first place by designing processes and systems in a way that makes it difficult or impossible for mistakes to happen. The concept of poka yoke was developed […]
Productivity Monitoring
What is Productivity Monitoring? Knowing how productive your employees are is good. But being able to collect data and use it to optimize your production is nothing short of excellent. Productivity monitoring helps people track their goals and understand the inner workings of their operations while empowering workers through engagement. This is done by: Tracking […]
Programmable Logic Controller (PLC)
Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) are integral components of industrial hardware systems. Because they were designed to be used mostly by non-engineer workers, it takes just a little effort to understand how crucial PLCs are in application and the many advantages they bring to the shop floor. KEY TAKEAWAYS PLC = input + output + CPU […]
Quality Management System (QMS)
What is a Quality Management System? A Quality Management System (QMS) is a set of business processes and procedures aimed at achieving a specific performance goal, meeting quality standards, and continuously improving operations. Most QMSs are created and administered by a regulatory body, such as the ISO (International Organization for Standardization) and the IATF (International […]
Redundancy
A redundancy is a repetitive, unnecessary step in a process; in manufacturing, redundancies are deliberate fail-safe measures integrated into a production cycle for risk management and system control. KEY TAKEAWAYS Technique used for Total Quality Management (TQM) Purpose is to limit extent of potential equipment or operator failures Helpful when cost of implementation < consequences […]
Root Cause Analysis
What is Root Cause Analysis? Root Cause Analysis (RCA) is a method used to find the root cause of any malfunction, deficiency, or problem. It is most famously used in industries such as healthcare, science, and manufacturing/engineering but its principles can be used in any environment. As a fundamental problem-solving tool, Root Cause Analysis focuses […]
Rule Engine
What is a Rule Engine? A rule engine is a type of logic that enables manufacturing actions to be automated based on specific guidelines or pre-established “rules”. They are comprised of 2 key features: Defined conditions;Subsequent appropriate reactions.By looking at the current conditions, the rule engine will enact the appropriate action based on the logic […]
Six Sigma
Six Sigma is a management philosophy with the goal of reducing quality defects in production processes using a broad variety of statistical analysis “tools” and techniques. It is a robust methodology that borrows elements from other manufacturing methodologies, such as Lean, Agile Manufacturing, Total Productive Maintenance (TPM), and the relatively similar (but functionally distinct!) Lean Six Sigma, for a few examples