Creform offers a variety of unique products for simplifying, designing and building material handling structures and vehicles.

Mississippi has a robust manufacturing sector that includes world-class companies such as Airbus Helicopters, GE Aviation, Ingalls Shipbuilding, Nissan, Northrop Grumman, Toyota and Viking Range. It’s also home to a world-class organization at the University of Mississippi.

Over the years, just about all organizations have adopted a continuous improvement program, many based on lean principles. But there’s a key question that often never gets asked: How does a company know where to improve next?

Quick change is a popular type of magic in which performers appear in entirely different costumes within just a few seconds. It’s an act that takes tremendous skill and lots of practice to perfect.

Manufacturers face a plethora of challenges every day, regardless of where they are located and the industries they serve.

Construction equipment, farm tractors and other off-highway machines need more than just diesel engines, big tires and metal tracks to operate. They require hydraulic mechanisms to steer, raise booms, open buckets or tilt blades.

"Creative" and “lean.” Do those words go together? I have been a lean practitioner for more than 20 years, and I’ve never heard the phrase “creative lean.” But don’t we love those creative solutions? Don’t we get excited when an idea comes from out in left field and it works?

Mixed-model assembly lines present numerous opportunities for manufacturers, but they also create headaches for engineers. Lean manufacturing guru, Drew Locher, offers some tips.

Manufacturers today are producing a wider range of products than ever. Life cycles are shrinking and demand for customization is increasing. As a result, assembly lines must be as flexible as possible without compromising efficiency. That’s why companies producing everything from pumps to pistols and caskets to chainsaws depend on mixed-model assembly.