Plant location is a critical factor in manufacturing profitability and productivity, making the right regional choice is consequently of great importance. Factors such as labor-force, resource availability, proximity to market and available support services are all critical considerations when assessing regions. Costa Rica boasts a robust supplier base, proximity to North American markets and competitive tax incentives. As a plethora of high-tech multi-national companies are already thriving in Costa Rica we asked our friends at CINDE (Cost Rica Investment Promotion Agency) to help us understand some of the main benefits of manufacturing in the region. The eBook below explains why thriving manufacturers have already chosen Costa Rica and provides information to help manufacturers assess their options. Manufacture & Design in Costa Rica – As low as 0% income tax for true ROI Find out more about manufacturing in Costa Rica by joining CINDE at the American Manufacturing Summit 2016 taking place on February 29th – March 1st in Chicago.
Read More →Warehouse & Facility Safety: Forklift-Free Environments
According to the Federal OHSA there are over 100 forklift related fatalities annually in the US alone. Forklifts are also the cause of over 20,000 injuries annually in the US. In the hopes of developing a safer work environment many manufacturers are looking into options that will allow their facilities to operate forklift free. Seegrid, the pioneer and leader in three-dimensional vision navigation, has released the whitepaper below that discusses the use of vision guided vehicles as an automation handling alternative to forklifts in warehouses and manufacturing facilities. In the whitepaper below, Seegrid explores the causes of forklift related injuries and discusses the benefits of vision guided vehicles (VGVs) as an alternative. The whitepaper explains how the adoption of VGVs will lead to increased safety as well as decreased costs and enhanced efficiency. forklift_free_white_paper For more information on VGVs and their use in warehouses and manufacturing facilities visit Seegrid Online or join the discussion at the American Manufacturing Summit 2016 taking place on February 29th – March 1st in Chicago.
Read More →How to Train your VGV (Vision Guided Vehicle)
In an earlier post we introduced VGVs and looked into how they improve efficiency, reduce costs and increase safety in manufacturing facilities. Today we return to VGVs in the form of an automated pallet truck. In the video below, provided by our friends at Seegrid, we take a closer look at how VGVs are trained in their behaviors. The video demonstrates how the infrastructure free design allows VGVs to learn their routes and how 3D mapping enables automated transport through facilities. Don’t forget to catch up with Seegrid by stopping by Booth #5 at the upcoming American Manufacturing Summit 2016 taking place at the end of the month in Chicago!
Read More →4 Critical Steps to Becoming a High-Performance Organization
High-performance organizations optimize the use of their resources, adopt lean initiatives and processes, boost annual efficiency gains and achieve organizational goals. As the manufacturing landscape becomes more complex, manufacturers must adapt to new models of excellence to remain agile and competitive. Leadership is a key factor in achieving operational excellence. To take a closer look at how leadership will effect organizational excellence, we turned to our friends at TBM Consulting, a global operations management consulting firm that maximizes enterprise value and accelerates growth by working with clients to leverage operational excellence. Last year, TBM conducted an ‘Operational Expertise Leadership Survey’ to identify the largest and most common gaps in fundamental leadership skill-sets. TBM found that organizations struggle with 2 main issues within their leadership teams; issues with management systems and processes, or with actual leadership skills and behaviors (or both). We are fortunate enough to have TBM share their findings with us in the whitepaper below. In the following whitepaper, TBM discusses the survey results and identifies 4 critical steps to close the ‘skill-set gap’ in leadership and become a high-performance organization. TBM Identifying-and-addressing-your-in-house-operational-expertise-leadership-gaps Join TBM Consulting at the American Manufacturing Summit 2016 taking place in Chicago on February 29th – March 1st! Be sure to stop by their booth, Booth #14!
Read More →Vision Guided Vehicles Drive Manufacturing Efficiency
Vision guided vehicles are the next generation of AGVs (Automated/Automatic Guided Vehicles). Unlike AGVs, VGVs navigate without wires, lasers, magnets, or tape, using three-dimensional vision navigation instead. Offering cost effective, improved material handling within manufacturing facilities, VGVs are gaining popularity due to their ability to: Improve facility and employee safety. Reduce labor and operating costs. Increase throughput and productivity. To understand how a VGV would actually operate within a facility we asked our friends at Seegrid to share one of their videos of a VGV in action. Seegrid is the pioneer and leader in three-dimensional vision navigation. They provide unique and revolutionary automation technology for materials handling. As the video illustrates, the VGV is first taken through its route in training mode by an operator, once the route has been complete, the VGV is ready to take on the load, unmanned. Take a look at the VGV video below! To find out more about Seegrid, visit the website or join us at the American Manufacturing Summit 2016 and visit Booth #5.
Read More →End-to-End Supply Chain Synchronization: The importance of Predictive Analytics & Lean Pull
A major focus within this blog has been looking at methods to drive efficiency and enable operational excellence in manufacturing. One aspect we haven’t yet explored is end-to-end supply chain synchronization. Synchronizing the supply network with final customer demand is a key factor in driving operational excellence. By using actual customer demand across the supply network manufacturers can enable better service and conversion costs with less inventory. Shertrack LLC has released a fascinating case study that highlights the key elements in achieving end-to-end supply chain synchronization. To find out more about demand-driven predictive manufacturing and the benefits of synchronizing your supply chain, visit: http://shertrack.com/
Read More →How Plasma Enables Enhanced Efficiency and Decreases Costs in Aerospace Manufacturing.
Aerospace and defense manufacturers are constantly seeking ways to improve product durability and reliability while reducing costs. Incorporating composite materials into aerospace production has presented manufacturers with unique cleaning and adhesion challenges in processes such as joining, printing, coating, sealing and painting. Surface treatment and surface modification have therefore arisen as a critical factor to aerospace manufacturers, especially during the production of aircraft components such as wings or fuselages. Plasma treatment is ideal for a number of these processes as it helps to join dissimilar materials including difficult to adhere to plastics and lightweight substrates, protect against corrosion, prevent leaks, resist flaking. Plasmatreat is the global leader in proven automated plasma technologies for manufacturing. Plasmatreat has received a distinguished TRL 9 rating by industry customers classifying it as a reliable strong manufacturing solution. Improved bonding and adhesion for component, lightweight parts The bonding and adhesion of aerospace parts is critical for an industry where safety and durability are paramount. Lightweight, dissimilar materials such as carbon fiber (CFRP), aluminum, sheet molding compound (SMC) and high performance polymers are used in both body and component design. Joining these dissimilar materials can only be achieved when the surfaces are clean and prepped for bonding/adhesion. The cleaning and functionalization of material surfaces is necessary to achieve strong permanent bonds leading to high quality production output, yielding a safe and reliable product. Traditionally, prepping for bonding includes surface roughing such as sanding, welding or metal …
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 …
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