Located in Portland, OR, AmFor Electronics Inc. has been manufacturing wire harnesses, cable assemblies, electrical panels and electromechanical assemblies since 1961. Its products can be found in cars, trucks, construction equipment and agricultural equipment.

Over the past decade, Parker Garrett has visited hundreds of companies. During the course of those visits, he's observed his share of unhappy workplaces. Conversations reveal frustrations with bureaucracy, poorly designed processes and "odd" decision-making not in the best interest of either the company or its employees.

Looking for stuff, whether it be keys, wallet, phone, meeting notes, spices in a kitchen cabinet, or pencils in my woodworking shop, is the bane of my existence. Some days, I feel as if I spend more time looking for stuff than do actually using the stuff I was looking for.

Taylor Power Systems Inc. manufactures service generators for the oil and gas, agricultural and other industries. Located in Clinton, MS, Taylor Power's headquarters and assembly plant includes more than 300,000 square feet of office, training and production space.

If you have been around for a while, you may recall the "Parts is Parts" commercial from the Wendy's fast-food chain. As bad as the "parts is parts" idea is for chicken sandwiches, it's equally bad for manufacturing.

In an earlier article, we dissected the project scope and explored the work breakdown structure (WBS). The WBS is the disaggregation of the scope into the work products that are required to meet the defined scope. Now, we are going explore setting about doing the work, from a schedule, or perhaps we will not even build a schedule.

Waste, in lean terms, is any activity that does not add value to the product while costing a manufacturer money and resources. From active losses to missed opportunities, these wastes are so common in manufacturing operations that they are often overlooked.

Refrigerators are one of the only appliances found in nearly every type of home, whether it's an apartment in suburban Atlanta, a high-rise condominium in downtown Chicago, a beach house in Hawaii or a trailer in Texas. The humble refrigerator is also the hardest working household appliance. Day and night, it's constantly running to keep all types of food and beverages cool, fresh or frozen.

A linchpin of any lean manufacturing effort, 5S programs help to reduce waste and optimize productivity through better work-place organization.

Optimizing flow and minimizing waste are two of the basic elements of lean manufacturing. Those concepts also play a critical role in laying out assembly lines.