Thursday, September 27, 2012

Essential for Building Quality in the Production Process

There are many management concepts that the Toyota style of production has introduced to the business world and Jidoka is one of them. This particular concept enables a production line to be stopped if any problem happens. There are many chances of mistakes occurring on the shop floor and this can obviously have a very negative effect on the company's output. Various mistakes can result in equipment downtime, delays in meeting targets and also poor quality of the finished products. The company will also lose money because of missed business opportunities as well as wastage of materials since the rejection rate will be high.
The concept of Jidoka refers to "automation with a human touch". This refers to the ability of machines to shut themselves down (or be shut down) in the event of any mistake in the production process.
According to the concept of Jidoka,
- An operator on the shop floor will be able to stop production at the very instance that a problem occurs.
- This helps isolate the problem to that particular area so that it can be rectified immediately without allowing the defective pieces to go further down the line. If the product is necessary as a raw material for further stages this will help limit the problem to one particular stage.
- The shop floor is arranged so that an operator can control more than one machine at the same time. If there is a problem the worker will be able to shut production down immediately. This sensible arrangement of the shop floor ensures that the company does not have to hire a lot of people.
- In many instances, the machines themselves will have certain features such as lasers or automatic switches so that they can stop automatically in the event of a problem. If a particular machine shuts down, it can be repaired while ensuring that other machines keep on working.
Companies can really improve their productivity and reduce wastage by adopting this management concept. However, they need to follow this concept in the right manner in order to get the best results. The employees of the company will also have to receive good training in adopting Jidoka order to ensure that they do what is required of them. As a matter of fact, it makes good sense to hire a management consultant who will enable the company to make the transition to the new style of operation.

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Effective Small Business Promotion On Tight Budget

In times of economic down turn, most entrepreneurs search for affordable ways to do small business promotion. The same is true for those who are just starting up with small capital. Learning the ins and outs of the internet can help you come up with marketing techniques which could be accomplished at the comfort of your own home. Moreover, it can save you from paying for hired help.
Carry Your Company All The Time - Have your company name or website URL printed on a shirt. Wear it wherever you go. Such print will surely attract the attention of the people you encounter. When sending emails to clients, friends or even family members, take advantage of the signature feature that an email software offers. Under your name, provide your position and your company name. Advertising small business can also be done with some paperwork - invest on letterheads and customized envelopes.
Market In Your Locality - One of the tried and tested ways to increase your customer base is to build your own local market. This is as easy as asking your present customers to post comments on your webpage. Say, they can share about their enjoyable experience about your product or service. Show your gratitude to your local customers through giveaways if they refer someone they know to try your offers. You can also distribute flyers to announce events of sale.
Join The Social Media Fever - Many a small business promotion have flourished with the use of social media networking sites like Facebook, Google Plus and Twitter. Through these sites you will be able to interact with people you know while marketing your company for free. This is a great way to attract more potential customers.
Keep On Blogging - You need not be a grammar expert just to have regular posts on your blog. Using your personal tone, you can casually share updates on upcoming promotional events in store for your followers. Do you have a new product line or service offers? Blog about it. Write in the way you would speak to a close friend. If you have posted articles regarding your niche in famous article directories, you can provide its link in your blog through certain keywords you have used.
Help To Get Helped - No man is an island. The same principle applies to businesses. Are there other small firms in your niche? Even though you do not personally know their owners, extend a helping hand to them. You can ask these entrepreneurs to do the same for you. Who knows, the product you offer can complement the services they have.
Connect With Important People - Bloggers, media and producers are some of the important people you have to meet when seeking for affordable small business promotion. Extend favor or help to them and you are most likely to receive good write ups or advertisements from these people. Just be cautious not to get yourself into an agreement that can do your marketing efforts and public connections more harm than good.

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Create an Environment for Long-Term Success

Your business has a greater chance of succeeding if you use Kaizen to manage it. This is a management concept that calls for ongoing and continuous improvement. If you adopt this concept then you won't have to make drastic changes in your organization. You (and every other person in your organization) will be required to look continuously for areas for improvement and to incorporate them in order to increase efficiency at work.
You'll need to embrace Kaizen fully and this involves creating a workplace environment that supports it. Only then will you be able to get the many benefits that it can offer you. The following tips will be of great use to you:
1. Make sure that all your employees are on board with this concept. If they hold back then you will miss out on valuable contributions from them. A high level of communication within the organization ensures that all employees know exactly what is expected.
2. Create a work environment where employee opinions and contributions are valued. If your organization merely pays lip service to employee feedback then it is unlikely that they will continue to provide it. It is impossible to make the necessary changes without ideas from employees.
3. Give training to all employees so that they can understand what kaizen is all about and make the necessary contributions to the organization. This also has the added benefit of increasing employee morale considerably. Employees at all levels should get the necessary training.
4. Start using quantitative evaluation to measure process performance because this is the only way to measure improvement and identify areas where improvement is insufficient.
5. Link rewards and incentives with employees' participation in Kaizen. In any case, this management concept has a direct effect on productivity and profitability.
Once you create a Kaizen-friendly environment in your organization, you (along with your employees) will be able to work on identifying various areas of concern and understanding what their individual causes are. Further, you will also be able to work out various strategies for addressing the different problems. Since you will be looking for continuous change, you will easily achieve this because you have put the right processes in place.
It is very important to beware of just making changes without first understanding what is to be achieved. Drastic changes will create stress within the organization and should therefore be avoided unless absolutely necessary. Once people believe in Kaizen then they will work towards gradual improvement.

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Find Out What the Main Principles Are

A Lean organization is perfectly suited for today's world where chance happens very fast and customers are extremely demanding. Your company, whether it is in the manufacturing sector or any other one, has a good chance of succeeding in a highly competitive environment only if it is agile and flexible. The Lean business approach is the best one for you because it helps you reduce wastage (and therefore costs) whilst increasing quality.
There are a few important principles associated with running a Lean organization. Understanding what these principles are will help you understand why it's a good idea for you to run your organization in this manner.
1. Understanding what exactly your customers want. Your product will have to be modified accordingly in order to ensure the highest possible level of customer satisfaction.
2. Map various job processes in order to find out exactly what causes many obstructions in getting your product to your customer.
3. Devise the best possible work flow in order to ensure that production goes on in the most efficient manner.
4. Get feedback from customers and also employees in order to make continuous improvements in how your company works. This enables your company to stay very flexible and able to deal with a variety of situations.
5. Constantly aim to improve your product as well as various processes so that you have the maximum efficiency.
6. Empower your employees to take responsibility for improving the fortunes of the company. Their feedback and co-operation is invaluable to make the necessary changes in how your organization works.
As you can see, your company will definitely benefit if it is run according to Lean principles. However, you will have to put in a lot of effort in order to ensure that this transition occurs easily. The simplest thing to do is get the necessary training for your employees across the board so that they are able to do their part. You will also have to sell the concept to them so that they internalize the different principles.
If all your employees are equally dedicated to Lean principles then your company has a very good chance of doing well, even in the face of extreme competition these days. The best way to proceed is by hiring a management consultant who specializes in this style of management. The consultant will study your specific business and help you arrive at which techniques are the best suited for it.