Creating a Lean Implementation Plan
A while back, I posed about Lean Manufacturing Principles. Today I wanted to go a little bit more in depth with how you can prepare a Lean implementation plan. First of all, let’s take a look at what exactly a lean implementation plan is. A lean implementation plan is how you are going to bring […]
Lean Manufacturing Tip: Takt Time
We’ve spoken about Lean Manufacturing many times on our blog, and it’s a term that most people are familiar with. There are many different ways that lean manufacturing can be implemented in a business; Takt Time is one of the fundamental aspects of it. But what exactly is Takt Time? It can be used in […]
Aerospace Sector Soars Above Economic Turmoil
The aerospace and defense industry is one of the few sectors in manufacturing that is currently not only surviving but thriving amid the recession, despite the grim predictions for job losses and bankruptcies among other Canadian manufacturers, plummeting oil prices, and the ever fluctuating CDN dollar. Employment rates and revenue are even continually on the […]
Lean Manufacturing Principles
According to Wikipedia, “lean is centered around creating more value with less work.” Lean manufacturing is basically creating a more streamlined process where we learn from our mistakes and reduce waste – whether physical waste or wasted time. It uses both innovation and problem solving to produce better results. The concept of “lean principles” comes […]
AMIS – Ontario’s Advanced Manufacturing Investment Strategy
Lines of credit have almost completely dried up in this recession, and it’s harder than ever for businesses to fund their new development projects. Ontario’s Advanced Manufacturing Investment Strategy (AMIS) is a great venue for Ontario manufacturers to pursue. What’s more, AMIS is available to companies from all manufacturing sectors in Ontario. The $500 million […]
Save Money & Make Smart Decisions When Purchasing From Foreign Sources
Cambridge area manufacturer Purchasing Manager Walat Yasin offers the following advice to fellow companies: Buying foreign has become of great interest to our company recently, especially as we have the order quantities to justify the purchases and save significantly. We also do not have the local manufacturing resources for particular products. We, like any company, […]
March Outlook on Business
The Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters association has just released their March survey. Each month they survey over 700 companies on business conditions. The results for the month of March? Canadian manufacturers are more optimistic about the coming quarter than they had been about the previous portion of this year. According to the CME group, exactly […]
Ontario Provincial 2009 Budget
The proposed 2009 Ontario provincial budget, released March 26th, 2009, puts forward new tax measures intended to build on the government’s “5 point” economic plan. Understandably there is much controversy about the spending plans, and many Ontarians are expressing concern over the Sales Tax Harmonization, and how it will affect the individual. On a positive […]
EI and Bankruptcy Filings Dramatically Increasing
The number of Canadians filing for bankruptcy and unemployment benefits rose significantly in January, according to new numbers released Tuesday by The Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy Canada. More than 117,000 Canadians filed for bankruptcy over the period of twelve months ending January 2009. This denotes an increase of 15.8 % from the previous […]
Chrysler Threatens Shutdown of Canadian Operations
Last week’s threat by Chrysler to close Canadian plants if it doesn’t win big concessions from the CAW is possibly one the most troubling announcements since the beginning of the auto industry meltdown. Tom LaSorda, Chrysler president, said the company needs to lower its labour costs by about 25%, reducing wages from the current estimated […]