Lean Manufacturing

Manufacturers are incorporating e-business strategies to achieve a competitive edge. They realize in a market full of constant change that only the agile will survive. Today, mass customization is the mode of operation versus mass production. Many small lots of different products typically go through production lines every day and new products are being introduced almost continually. In this environment, quality and efficiency can only be achieved by managing the process, not the product.

Lean manufacturing focuses on streamlining manufacturing processes to get the most out of your resources (equipment, inventory, and people). The basic goal is to get more done with less - by minimizing inventory at all stages of production, shortening product cycle times from raw materials to finished goods, and eliminating waste. Products are tailored to customer specs on lines that are flexible and capable of building products in lot sizes of one.

The lean manufacturing strategy helps manufacturers provide their customers with the product they want as quickly as possible. Raw materials are held to a minimum at the plant, with stock replenished as needed by suppliers in a just-in-time mode. Production orders are replaced with customer orders for specific, tailored products, and production planning is counted in days rather than in weeks. APS' data transport solutions facilitate the flow of information between business planning systems, your suppliers business systems, and your own plant-floor production systems.

With lean manufacturing, production lines are designed and balanced to allow you to respond quickly to customer demands based on equipment and inventory availability. APS' solutions utilize real-time information and modeling techniques to increase throughput and synchronize every aspect of manufacturing. The net result is dramatic reduction in cycle times, faster customer responsiveness, increased employee productivity, and higher equipment utilization. Space requirements, scrap, and rework are reduced.

A commitment to increased communication is a requirement of lean manufacturing. Not only throughout the manufacturing enterprise itself, but also through much, if not all, of the supply chain. APS' communication solutions enable customers, engineering, suppliers and production to collaborate more openly and efficiently. Time is saved by ensuring that the right people get the right information at the right time to reach the right decision. Our error proofing solutions provide employees and automated systems with the information required to ensure products are built to customer specs and errors are avoided.

APS' lean manufacturing solutions are built on the I/Gear Product Suite. By utilizing the I/Gear software the solutions are built on a reliable and expandable platform that provides quick and simple configuration.

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