One of the first steps in beginning an ERP project and launching the business case for change is to determine why change is necessary. Through our on-site meetings with this client, we were able to identify a few key areas that would be improved upon by a modern enterprise application system. In the article below, you will be able to identify key areas in a business that would benefit from a modern enterprise application system including: Customer Focus; Business Processes; Organizational Change Management Strategy (OCM); Revenues; Data Cleansing and Storing; and Automation. Ultra Consultants’ goal is to determine how an ERP system would add value to a business after assessing the needs of the business beforehand. For more information, please read the full article below!
Read More →Lean Six Sigma and ERP: Putting it All Together for Improved Performance
It’s common for manufacturers to perceive Lean Six Sigma and ERP as contrasting approaches. They often see them as “mutually exclusive” with competing goals and objectives. This informative paper looks at the characteristics of the three approaches. After downloading, you’ll be able to identify the differences and similarities of each. Discover the techniques to combine Lean, Six Sigma and ERP for an effective journey of continuous improvement that leads to improved business performance. “LEAN CALLS INTO PLAY TOOLS THAT ASSIST IN THE IDENTIFICATION AND STEADY ELIMINATION OF WASTE.” Find out more by downloading this white paper here.
Read More →Performance Behavior: the Lean Methodology for Continuously Improving Performance Behavior
The book ‘Performance Behavior’ (by Neil Webers) describes how an organization can link performance to behavior to minimize waste and optimize performance behavior. 8 FORMS OF HUMAN-WASTE are outlined which obstruct continuous improvement: Leadership-waste the result from too much push-management (based on authority) Comfort-waste the result of targets that aren’t enough stretching Communication-waste the result of misunderstandings that usually originate from meetings Discipline-waste the result when people are not being held accountable for not adhering to standards Goal-waste the result of employees having no idea of what is expected of them Engagement-waste the result of asking people to take responsibility for events or results which they cannot influence themselves Solving-waste the waste of capacity to solve problems when people work on solving problems without focusing on the root-cause of a problem Tuning-waste is the waste where people talk about different problems or solutions Find out more below!
Read More →Analyzing Potential Manufacturing Plant Locations
Establishing a new facility is a complex process that requires a large investment and detailed analysis of internal production needs, facility features and location requirements. The first step in this process is to select the country and region that best satisfies manufacturing needs. Mexico has rapidly become a top destination for medical device manufacturing. Executives and trade organizations cite major cost savings and ease of business processes as some of the main reasons for selecting Mexico. I sat down with our friends at Co-Production International to gain a clearer understanding of how manufacturers analyze the opportunities available for site location and learned that some of the main factors influencing site assessment are: Ease of trade: free trade zones & intellectual property rights (such as NAFTA) Proximity to major markets (in Mexico’s case this is the US and Canada) Social infrastructure: investor friendly attitude of the community Established commercial infrastructure (land, facilities, transportation) Labor supply: low-cost, highly skilled workforce Supply chain access and exposure / proximity to potential new clients and suppliers Economic stability, safety and security Co-Production International explained that the reason for Mexico’s growing popularity is that it has strengths in all of the above categories. From temporary imports for final assembly to full production operations, Mexico’s medical device sector is equipped to handle a broad range of medical device manufacturing activities. Contact Co-Production International for a labor cost analysis that will demonstrate the overall cost of manufacturing in Mexico …
Read More →Speaker eBook: Q&A with the Speakers at the American Medical Device Summit 2015
There is less than one month to the American Medical Device Summit 2015! With the event on the horizon, we took a moment to gather some of our key speakers and asked them to share their insights and opinions on the current state and future outlook of medical devices in the U.S. We posed the following questions: 1. How would you describe the current landscape for medical devices in America? 2. What are some of the biggest challenges that companies are facing when bringing medical devices to market? 3. How can these challenges be overcome? 4. When it comes to medical device inception, development or commercialization, what is the one piece of advice you wish that someone had given you? CLICK HERE to view the Speaker eBook
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