Month: November 2005

A step by step guide to lean manufacturing

THERE is clearly confusion between Lean, Agile, 6 Sigma, TQM, etc. But what falls under the Lean umbrella and how do you get there? And how do we avoid initiative overload?

The term Lean suggests no fat or a minimum level of fat and applying this to business would imply minimum levels of waste. This suggests that to become lean we must remove waste from the business processes to leave just that activity that adds value. Whilst this would appear logical, actually understanding that which is of value versus that which is not, and then applying this to all aspects of a business is difficult. And often the answers do not lie within the grasp of management running the business, but with people who are closest to the process and better placed to see the value and waste. Read More:A step by step guide to lean manufacturing

PLM more than just hype

Previously, a company would have agonisingly developed drawings, physical models and made endless expensive tests before taking a product to market with little or no proven prospects it will return a profit. Now it is a case of utilising available market data and actually fast tracking a product or service to exactly meet the criteria dictated by current market demand.

But instead of time-consuming drawings, these are designed, tested and refined quickly and accurately in the digital 3D environment, so wastage is virtually negligible.
Product Lifecycle Management – Edge Software Australia – PLM more than just hype

Process Manufacturing – What is it?

Process manufacturing is the way chemical, food, and liquids manufacturers work. This is different from what how discreet manufacturers (manufacturers who make tangible items) run their operations. This is explained more on our post The Process Manufacturing ERP Buyers Guide

Sick of pop-ups

While working on an ERP implementation, I had a friend not so long ago complain to me that his daughter was using his laptop at home and now he gets tons of pop-up ads, and the system seemed so slow. I explained to him that that is often the case when you use Internet Explorer. I suggested using Mozilla’s firefox to him. We ran a few different anti-spyware programs to clean the machine, installed Firefox and he took it home. I instructed him to teach his daughter to only use Firefox from now on.

A couple months later, he came back to me and thanked me a lot. “Ever since she has been using Firefox, I do not have any junk on my computer and those crazy pop-up windows have stopped.” I smiled and nodded knowingly.

Firefox is a great browser and has all of the features of IE and then some. It has tabs that help you to browse many pages in the same window. It also has quite a really great plug-ins. Plug-ins are programs that can be downloaded and can extend your browser’s capabilities. I have my browser controling my Itunes for music, showing me the weather in the bottom status bar, using Pluck to read RSS feeds – right from the browser and a few more.

Please give it a try. You won’t be sorry. Download the free browser now at:

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 Has Arrived!!

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 Has Arrived!!
Microsoft has sped to market their latest CRM offering!

A flash presentation of the CRM tool can be found here.

ERP is in the picture for midsize manufacturers

Small and midsize manufacturers are increasing IT investment because they don’t have the IT architecture needed to compete in a demand-driven world. For many, this means going back to the basics: an ERP system that standardizes business processes, extends the company’s reach, and reduces overhead.

In a 2005 study of more than 550 companies’ ERP investment plans, only 27 percent of small companies “those with fewer than 500 employees” currently …more… (requires registration)