INNOVATIVE LEAN INSIGHTS
Your go-to resource for mastering material flow, curated by experts. Gain the knowledge you need to boost efficiency and stay ahead.INNOVATIVE LEAN INSIGHTS
Your go-to resource for mastering material flow, curated by experts. Gain the knowledge you need to boost efficiency and stay ahead.
Forklift free: Apply three rules for a successful implementation
Fork truck free / forklift free is all the rage right now. Every industry publication, trade show discussion group, and cart manufacturer in the country is talking up the benefits of eliminating forklifts. It’s like Industry 4.0 – except it actually works. For...
What is a Mother Daughter Cart System?
One of our key phrases at Geolean is “Get the fork outta here!” When we work with clients to create their lean system, removing forklifts from the manufacturing area is a point of emphasis. Getting rid of forklifts makes sense, but it’s not always an easy change...
Hidden Benefits to Installing a Lean Manufacturing and Lean Management System
Almost all of our customers believe in lean and would say they have a fully integrated, operational lean system. At some point though, when they’re far enough on the lean journey, they start to ask themselves if there wasn’t something they missed somewhere along the...
What is Tube and Joint Design?
If you’ve been keeping up with the latest trends in lean equipment solutions (or if you’ve just been keeping up with our articles), you know that tube and joint design is widely applied to create effective material flow solutions. But what is tube and joint design?...
Understanding Manufacturing Bottlenecks Part 2: Flow Through
Our previous article introduced the three main categories of bottlenecks that apply to a manufacturing operation: demand in, people around, and flow through. Part 1 of this series went deeper on the subject of demand in. This article will discuss the...
Understanding Manufacturing Bottlenecks Part 1: Demand In
Our previous blog introduced the three main categories of bottlenecks that apply to a manufacturing operation: demand in, people around, and flow through This article will discuss the subject of demand in more detail, along with how to understand and think...
Visualize a Connected System to See Manufacturing Bottlenecks
There are only three manufacturing bottlenecks that matter: demand in, flow-through and people around. They all connect to each other and any other apparent bottleneck can be grouped under one of these primary bottlenecks. A bottleneck is a step or point in a process...
5 Manufacturing Problems That Can Be Solved With Lean
As lean integrators, we’ve seen all types of manufacturing and production operations and all sorts of issues that prevent those operations from achieving their next level of success. Here are a few common issues we see and insights into how lean can be applied to...
How To Create A Lean-Friendly Company Culture
It’s fun to go on benchmarking trips. It’s fun to go see Toyota or Toyota-inspired operations in Japan. Everyone comes back from those experiences with a head full of “what could be” and ideas on what to change, all at the same time. Then they get back to...
What Are Tugger Cart Systems And How Do They Improve Material Flow?
One of our key phrases at Geolean is “Get the fork outta here!” When we work with clients to create their lean system, removing forklifts from the manufacturing area is often one of the first initiatives. Getting rid of forklifts makes sense, but it’s not always an...
Why Your Manufacturing Workstation Needs a Makeover
You might think you’re doing it all right in terms of applying lean manufacturing principles in your factory: you’ve visualized processes, are working to go forklift-free, and you’ve got buy-in from top management. But if you’re just using standard catalog...
What are Flow Racks and How do they Improve Material Flow?
There are four main groups of physical equipment that support material flow: carts, workstations, packaging, and flow racks. Of those four groups, flow racks are the least understood. It may be because the others are encountered in normal life - if you go to any...
See your Plant Like a Monopoly Board
I was walking a customer’s plant recently and trying to convince them why they should switch to small totes from large bins. We discussed the benefits to operator ergonomics, product mix, production scheduling, material delivery, inventory, and on and on....
AI is No Match for NS
While enjoying some lakeside time I saw a beverage koozie with a great phrase: “Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity”. I have a very positive outlook on the potential for any person to grow and develop from their current capability. I also have a...
Use Action to Build Positive Emotions for Your Lean System
Why are we talking about emotion with lean? Isn’t lean this bad system used to cut people and make companies “run lean” so the owners can sell and profit? We’re talking about emotion because that is the only way lean can succeed. And when lean succeeds...
Apply Custom Lean Solutions to Pursue One Piece Flow Production
Successful lean system integration comes from connecting all elements of lean (principles, concepts, tools) across every dimension of your operation (space, time, people, financial). Although sometimes a principle is easy to understand on the surface, it is not always...
How Modular Solutions Support Six Sigma Projects
Let’s ignore the fact that Six Sigma is meaningless as a statistical process measurement and control program for 99.99966% of cases. We will also ignore the murky origins of the term, which may have been based on either a typo or a misinterpretation, and the deviation...
5 Steps to Sell your Boss on Lean Implementation
You know the importance and value of lean production, and you’ve seen the ways in which it can improve productivity and output, increase plant safety, and save money. But as is often the case for those in EHS and Continuous Improvement roles, you’re not the sole...
What is 5s and How Can it Contribute to your Lean Manufacturing Goals?
Just like “lean manufacturing”, “Toyota Production System”, and “continuous improvement”, 5S is a term that gets thrown around a lot but the approach is often misunderstood. Even more important than the standard definition of “What is 5S” is “Why” you would want to...
You Might be a Backwards Manufacturing Operation If…
Mark Twain said, “Humor is the good-natured side of a truth”. One of Geolean’s principles is to have fun at work, to the extent that we don’t call our customer visits meetings, we call them field trips. These field trips allow us to experience truth and...