Productivity advantages by a Rapid Manufacturing roadmap
Companies often deal opportunistically with 3D printing. However, companies can avoid productivity disadvantages compared to competitors and achieve advantages if they align their 3D printing activities and organization by a Rapid Manufacturing roadmap. more….
Lectures of RWTH Aachen University
Students of the Foundry Institute of the RWTH Aachen University learn the methodology of quick, sustainable, and efficient optimization of products and processes. more….
Maintenance productivity as a competitive advantage
Controlling often reveals high maintenance costs as % of sales in combination with low maintenance productivity. Such a situation gives the company a chance to win a competitive advantage, if it taps the full productivity potential of maintenance. This is done either by an integrated solution or by selective solutions based on root causes. more….
Provide data for a lean, global R&D
Global R&D processes are often complex and wasteful. That’s why a company can gain a competitive advantage, if it provides the data on the wasteless performance share of its global R&D processes, exploits the full potential, and so changes the rules of the game in its industry. This requires a standardized R&D database, suitable methods and appropriate tools. more….
How and when to implement a 3D printing business model
A digital 3D printing business model allows increased product performance and real-time individualized series production without assembly and without warehousing. 3D printing speeds up the digitization of industrial business models. The question is no longer whether, but how and when to implement a 3D printing business model. more….
Innovation excellence despite application excellence
Companies with application excellence are often ailing in new product generations and in disruptive innovations. Individual innovation successes sometimes obscure the long-term ailing innovations. Lessons learned of the projects do not allow to identify the root causes of innovation excellence. Hence not exactly resilient measures then drive innovation effort without achieving innovation excellence. Only resilient root causes and know-how of Innovation Engineering lead to company-specific measures for innovation excellence. more….
What is the impact of 3D printing?
3D printing allows higher product performance and mass customization in real time, without assembly and without storage. Faster and faster it substitutes conventional production. Therefore, companies must now review their competitive strategies. The reorientation can lead to in-sourcing, innovation and digital platforms. Will soon Amazon, Apple, and Google dominate the global production? more…
Why stay productivity, lead time, and quality targets of business processes often far away from wasteless value-adding performance?
Businesses specify productivity, lead time, and quality targets for business processes driven by market requirements, benchmarks, and analyses. However these targets often stay far away from wasteless value-adding performance. Often pure value-adding performance contributes only 5% to costs or lead time. The root causes of that are usually varying, interacting, and remaining unclear. If the root causes are made transparent by Statistical Engineering, big performance leaps are possible. more….
Why maintenance often does not create more return on sales and return on capital?
The application of methods within maintenance was substantially expanded during the last three decades. However the effect of maintenance on return on sales and return on capital remained rather marginal. Trend charts mostly exhibit variations of maintenance quality and productivity. Hence it is often necessary to uncover the hidden root causes of maintenance waste, before actions lead to maintenance excellence. more …
How value-adding performance, waste, and excellence of marketing, sales, R&D, and production are to be reported by controlling?
Companies increase profit contribution of quality management by quality controlling. Quality controlling co-ordinates profitable implementation of quality strategy by all quality activities through planning, execution, monitoring, and reporting. Often quality controlling has limited co-ordination power, because an explicit quality or excellence strategy is missing, only common quality cost accounting is available, and only some quality activities are included. more….