Articles
Beware The Ill-Planned Innovative Rollout
March 26, 2013 3:12 pm | by Moe Glenner, President, PURELogistics | CommentsA post-mortem will usually reveal errors in the execution but misses the real culprit: planning errors. While Garbage In – Garbage Out (GIGO) is true for any process, it is especially apparent in change initiatives. If the initiative is not planned properly, the end result will almost always reflect that lack of planning.
Q&A: Springing Forward With Pest Prevention
March 26, 2013 3:06 pm | by Lindsey Jahn, Associate Editor, Food Manufacturing | CommentsWith warmer weather on the horizon, it is important for food manufacturers to put prevention measures in place for warm-weather pests. Food Manufacturing spoke with Patricia Hottel about the steps processors can take to get a head start on spring pest prevention.
Fighting To Reclaim Manufacturing In America
March 26, 2013 2:20 pm | by Kristopher Settle, Energy Curtailment Specialists | CommentsYes, the industry is still a global juggernaut; producing 18.2 percent of all manufactured goods which tops the list globally (still over half a percent more than China). But quite frankly, "dominant" would be one of the last terms to sum up the past fifteen years of U.S. manufacturing, despite our strong presence.
The Feminine Pad (A Tablet For Women)
March 25, 2013 2:20 pm | by Melissa Fassbender, Associate Editor, PD&D | CommentsIt is very likely that these are the apps that a woman would want on their tablet (I myself have a calorie tracker…that I never use) but the issue lies in the fact that the Femme Tablet is telling women that these are the things they should be concerned about, and it is assuming that women are not capable of using a “regular” tablet.
Can 10 Million People Be Wrong?
March 24, 2013 8:40 pm | by Mark Schmit, Manager, Strategic Partnerships, SelectUSA | CommentsMonopoly’s Facebook page boasts 10 million fans. Over 10 million people from more than 120 countries voted to replace the iconic iron (introduced in 1935 with the first iteration of the game) with a cat in 2013. The competition included robots, a guitar, a diamond ring and a helicopter.
The Learning Thermostat
March 21, 2013 9:40 pm | by Meaghan Ziemba, Editor, WDD | CommentsPalo Alto, CA-based Nest Labs, has created a thermostat solution that will help reduce energy consumption within households by up to 20 percent. According to the company, energy consumption accounts for 50 percent (or more than $1,000 per year) of the average household utility bill.
Great Northern: Boxing Out The Competition
March 21, 2013 4:04 pm | CommentsWhile corrugated products were traditionally sourced at a local level due to the costs associated with shipping, bringing the opportunity for customized box creation to the consumer would likely offet any additional printing costs and Great Northern wanted to set the industry trend.
The Potential Narcotic Of Reassuring Simplicity
March 21, 2013 1:55 pm | by Mike Collins, Author, Saving American Manufacturing | CommentsTrickle down Economics (TDE) has been a popular economic theory for Republicans since the Laffer curve days of President Reagan in the early 1980s. It assumes that there should be no or few barriers to the accumulation of wealth, because if the rich do well benefits will trickle down to the rest of us.
Prepare For Disaster (And Minimize Downtime)
March 21, 2013 1:51 pm | by Christopher Cooley, VP of Product Management, SunGard AS | CommentsDisasters come in many sizes and shapes and are often unexpected, which is why manufacturers must prepare for them, treating disaster recovery plans almost as an insurance policy. And they do happen, often at the most inconvenient times. By one count, their numbers have climbed 233 percent since 1980.
Gulf Seafood Update: An Industry Regains Its Sea Legs
March 21, 2013 1:48 pm | by Lindsey Jahn, Associate Editor, Food Manufacturing | CommentsWhen the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded in April 2010, 4.9 million barrels of oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico, bringing the area’s seafood industry to a halt. Nearly three years later, Gulf seafood players stand united with plans to make the industry stronger than ever.
Q&A: Counterfeits In Military And Aerospace Applications
March 20, 2013 4:11 pm | by Manufacturing.net Staff | CommentsThe driving force behind this trend is simply illegal financial gain. Unfortunately, it is neither new nor uncommon. In fact, the items most commonly counterfeited are not necessarily electronics. Recently there was an uncovering of counterfeit (and substandard) nuts and bolts sold to the military for widespread use across the armed forces.
Q&A: Preventing Recalls In A Fast-Paced Industry
March 20, 2013 2:20 pm | by Lindsey Jahn, Associate Editor, Food Manufacturing | CommentsThe FDA recently proposed new rules as part of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). As the food regulatory landscape continues to change quickly, it is more important than ever for food facilities to employ the latest technology to prevent product recalls before they occur.
Safety First: A Digital Supplement On Manufacturing Safety
March 20, 2013 11:18 am | CommentsManufacturing.net has teamed up with sister publications Industrial Maintenance & Plant Operation, Food Manufacturing and Manufacturing Business Technology to develop a comprehensive digital supplement that covers the latest developments in manufacturing safety.
Exploring Energy Q&A: The Solar Advantage
March 20, 2013 8:32 am | CommentsThe ability to switch over to solar and reduce the cost of electricity at that plant would have given me a competitive advantage and also allowed me to advertise and market that we were a sustainable energy company. This sustainability message was important because a lot of my customers had sustainability objectives that they wanted to achieve.
100 Percent Lean Beans
March 19, 2013 11:47 am | by Anna Wells, Executive Editor, Industrial Maintenance & Plant Operation | CommentsThe Starbucks Carson Valley Roasting Plant & Distribution Center crew will tell you everything you need to know about how roasting and brewing methods affect the flavor of coffee in so many ways. And just as the smallest of modifications can dramatically affect the flavor of the cup, Starbucks Carson Valley has learned that – likewise – small steps towards continuous improvement can yield returns.
Q&A: On Equity (And Unions) At Nissan’s Miss. Plant
March 19, 2013 9:43 am | by Joel Hans, Managing Editor, Manufacturing.net | CommentsThe relationship between Nissan management and the Canton plant's employees haven’t always been smooth — recently, some workers have sought out union membership, and in the meantime, have formed into a group called the Mississippi Alliance for Fairness at Nissan (MAFFAN).
U.S. Teens Fear Risk-Taking; STEM Careers Demand It
March 18, 2013 2:10 pm | by Kelton Global | CommentsWhile 95 percent of teens agree that risk-taking is required for innovation in science, technology, engineering and mathematics — or STEM — careers, 46 percent say they are afraid to fail or uncomfortable taking risks to solve problems, according to an ASQ survey conducted by Kelton Global.
Q&A: The Evolution Of PLM
March 18, 2013 11:31 am | by Joel Hans, Managing Editor, Manufacturing.net | CommentsAs PLM has helped companies control and manage their product-related data over the lifecycle of their products, I think companies have realized that the data has value beyond engineering. Therefore the implementations of PLM have become larger, a little more complex and require the engagement of multiple functions.
The Apocalyptic Threat Of Undead Projects
March 17, 2013 8:50 pm | by Alan Nicol, Executive Member, AlanNicolSolutions | CommentsAre there any of us who haven’t been assigned to the “undead” project? You know, those projects that seem to go on forever without ever possessing the priority or proper resources to get finally to launch, or the ones that are constantly re-directed or re-defined such that we never make meaningful progress.
Redundancy In Manufacturing Control Systems
March 15, 2013 12:16 pm | by Greg Lynch | CommentsDepending on the type of interruption and the severity of the consequences, some manufacturing systems require PLC redundancy to keep people and equipment safe. Instrumentation and manufacturing engineers need to balance the cost of redundant PLCs with the consequences of an outage.
