“A place for everything and everything in its place” is a maxim that’s familiar to most of us. What you might not know is that more than just an old saying, it’s also another way of expressing the ...

In this session at the 2009 IW Best Plants Conference, Alan Mauer, Senior Project Engineer for Stryker Instruments, delivers a straightforward look at what 5S was designed for, what its benefits are ...

With the right approach to continuous improvement, printing companies can thrive if they’re willing to make the investment. To be successful, a company must recognize that processes are the central ...

In the parable of the bricklayers, a traveler encounters three workers mortaring rows of bricks onto other bricks. “What are you doing?” inquires the traveler. The first worker answers, “What does it ...

QUESTION: One of the most basic practices of lean is 5S at each work station. Though we have spent time to set up each work station using the 5S approach, we seem to fall short on the "Sustain" ...

Developed by Hiroyuki Hirano during the post-war Japanese. era, 5S Lean has been used by Toyota for many years. With 5S principles incorporated into its world-famous production system, Toyota became a ...

Deming says ‘your system is perfectly designed to give you the results you get.’ My experience so far completely agrees with Deming in this respect,” says Mark Porter, Operator Driven Reliability (ODR ...

Continuous process improvement can benefit all aspects of life — from personal New Year’s resolutions to complex drug development. In a world where two-thirds of planned improvement initiatives fail, ...