U.S. DOT Secretary LaHood to Speak at Manex Hosted Event

Posted on February 2, 2012 by Manex

We’re excited to announce that Ray LaHood, U.S. Transportation Secretary, will be traveling to Sacramento to deliver a keynote address to over 200 participants scheduled to attend a special complimentary one-day forum to connect rail industry OEMs with U.S. suppliers in the manufacturing sector.  This  event is being hosted by the Corporation for Manufacturing Excellence (Manex) and California Manufacturing and Technology Consulting (CMTC).

The attendance of Secretary LaHood is a very strong indication that this event supports the future of the rail industry and its vital importance at the National and State level. As Secretary of  Transportation, LaHood leads an agency with more than 55,000 employees and a $70 billion budget that oversees the nation’s air, maritime and surface transportation system.

The “Next Generation Supply Chain Connectivity Forum” will be held on Feb. 8, 2012 at the Woodlake Hotel (formerly the Radisson) in Sacramento, CA. Various speakers from the U.S. Department of Commerce, the Federal Railroad Administration and CALTRANS will also participate in the event to bring together rail sector manufacturers/suppliers with key OEMs.

The Forum is for manufacturers who are interested in growing their business by considering opportunities in the rail industry supply chain. Panel Discussions for both traditional and potential new suppliers will take place followed by one-on-one meetings between OEMs and suppliers. This Forum is the result of a partnership between the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) to leverage existing agency capabilities to promote the development of a robust domestic supply-base to support intermodal transportation investment in the United States. This initiative is part of a broader opportunity of $782 million in grants that will pump new life into domestic manufacturing across the nation.

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Apple Audits Its Suppliers And Finds Plenty Of Room For Improvement

Posted on January 25, 2012 by Manex

According to the latest issue of Manufacturing and Technology News, Apple’s contractors in China are running operations riddled with environmental, health and safety practices  that would be illegal in the United States, according to an audit conducted by Apple. The audit describes hundreds of situations in which suppliers are not in compliance with Apple’s standards for work hours, hazardous waste disposal, worker safety and ergonomics, dormitory conditions for workers and other business and human rights practices.

Former Apple CEO Steven Jobs told President Obama that his company indirectly employed 700,000 people in China, as opposed to about 30,000 (not including those who
work in Apple’s retail stores) in the United States. The company conducted 229 audits last year among its overseas parts and component suppliers, up from 127 in 2010, 102 in
2009 and 39 in 2007. It plans to do a lot more this year, hiring the Fair Labor Association to help conduct third-party audits using the association’s Code of Conduct performance
evaluation. The results of those audits will appear on the Fair Labor Association’s website.

Among the 229 audits Apple conducted in 2011, it found hundreds of violations. Only 38 percent of the facilities it audited were in compliance with Apple’s policies regarding  working hours. “At 90 facilities, more than half of the records we reviewed indicated that workers had worked more than six consecutive days at least once per month and 37 facilities lacked an adequate working day control system to ensure that workers took at least one day off in every seven days,” according to the Apple audit report. Only 69 percent were in compliance with paying appropriate wages and benefits, and 78 percent were in compliance with preventing involuntary labor.

The 27-page report, “Apple Supplier Responsibility 2012 Progress Report,” is located at http://images.apple.com/supplierresponsibility/pdf/Apple_SR_2012_Progress_Report.pdf.

Additional information is located at http://www.apple.com/supplierresponsibility/.

 

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Manex and Partners to Host 2012 Silicon Valley Manufacturing & Technology Summit

Posted on January 16, 2012 by Manex

Competing globally while manufacturing in California to create good, well-paying jobs will be the main topic of discussion at the inaugural 2012 Silicon Valley Manufacturing & Technology Summit to be held on March 21, 2012 at the Santa Clara Convention Center. The event is presented by The Corporation for Manufacturing Excellence (Manex), www.manexconsulting.com, Mission College, The Santa Clara Chamber of Commerce, NOVA Workforce Investment Board, and Silicon Valley Leadership Group.

“We need the manufacturing sector to be the foundation for the future, as its strength or weakness has tremendous impact on job creation and the health of the overall economy,” says Hank Holzapfel, President of Manex. “Our goal is to do everything we can to help manufacturers compete globally while continuing to do business in California and employ highly-skilled workers in good paying jobs.”

In his keynote address at the summit, Harry Moser, Founder of the Reshoring Initiative, will describe the Initiative’s tools designed to help companies recognize the advantages of bringing manufacturing jobs back to the U.S. “World macro-economic trends, such as rapidly rising wages in China, suggest that U.S. manufacturers are or soon will be competitive for most products sold in the U.S. market,” says Mr. Moser. “The non-profit Reshoring Initiative provides free Total Cost of Ownership™ software that companies are starting to use to compare domestic to offshore sources, resulting in more U.S. jobs.”

Also presenting will be Bill Browne of Manex, who will reveal the latest resources for manufacturers and discuss why Lean Six Sigma and data-based decision making are no longer an option, and best practices are now a requirement. The morning session will also feature a panel discussion to include various local leaders and Northern California manufacturers.

The afternoon sessions include a panel discussion “Transition to Innovative New Processes and Products” and will feature local South Bay leaders, including panelists from Google, Mission College, and the Alliance of Chief Executives. The Summit will conclude with a presentation on Sustainable Manufacturing by UC Berkeley’s Laboratory for Manufacturing and Sustainability, and a session by Energy Commercialization on what companies need to do to assess their current status.

For more information and to register, go to: http://www.manexconsulting.com/events/santa-clara-manufacturing-summit

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Why Is Inventory a Liability in the World of Lean Manufacturing?

Posted on January 9, 2012 by Manex

Inventory is an asset in accounting terms, but it is considered a liability in the Lean Manufacturing world. Why? Because it becomes obsolete, expiration dates need to be tracked continuously, it gathers dust and rust, occupies valuable warehouse space, gets damaged, has to be constantly moved, and has no value to the company or its customers. A company spends its valuable assets, including financial, manpower and time to take care of inventory, without receiving any return on this investment.

Inventory is one of the foundations of manufacturing, and historically, manufacturers have been stocking it in large quantities. Given the current economic situation, and manufacturers’ pursuit of providing more value to their customers, inventory levels need to be optimized. Having too much inventory causes numerous problems and incurs cost, while having low inventory could lead to the loss of sales.

Given the evolving habits of the price conscious customer and intense domestic and international competition, it is imperative for manufacturers to carefully assess inventory levels to be profitable. Inventory reduces a portion of the liquidity of any company, and as one manufacturer put it – “I would rather have money in the bank than money lying around on my warehouse shelves”.

Since the needs of all manufacturers and the requirements of various industries are unique, Manex uses a tailored Lean and Six Sigma tools to design and implement an inventory control system that will work optimally in the organization. We focus on the following types of inventory – raw materials, work in process, finished goods and obsolete materials.

We perform in-depth analysis of all the processes and procedures in place for inventory control and help develop new procedures as required. Among other things, we help manufacturers develop and implement:

  • Robust raw materials ordering processes
  • Safety stock levels, re-order points and order quantities for raw materials
  • New production scheduling methodologies to optimize WIP
  • Improved manufacturing methodologies to meet demanding customer lead time requirements
  • Stocking levels for finished goods
  • Kanban systems to manage raw materials and finished goods
  • Plans for dispositioning obsolete materials and excess inventory

For more information on our inventory management solutions, contact us at info@manexconsulting.com.

 

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California MEP Report

Posted on December 16, 2011 by Manex

U.S. Manufacturing Turns Upward
Reversing a ten-year trend, U.S. manufacturing has begun creating more jobs according to Moody’s Analytics, Manufacturing is going to be a significant source of job growth and is projected at an average increase of 2% a year through 2015. Faster deliveries, lower freight costs, innovative products and customer responsiveness give U.S. manufacturers an edge.

Manufacturing is Important to California
As a source of innovation and wealth, California manufacturing remains critical to the state. With 44,500 manufacturers, California derives 12.8% of its GDP from manufacturing. California has over 1.2 million high-paying manufacturing jobs. Manufacturing is a job multiplier, yielding 4-7 additional non-manufacturing positions for each manufacturing job.

MEP Accelerates Economic Growth

Services provided by the MEP Program assist with overall sales growth, job creation and investment which contributes to the national economy.

  • MEP delivers $32,000 in economic sales growth for every dollar of federal investment.
  • MEP delivers one job for every $2,000 invested, one of the best returns of federally funded programs.

MEP Stimulates Product Innovation

Small and medium-sized manufacturers lag behind larger manufacturers in productivity because they often lack “learning” resources.

  • Small and medium-sized manufacturers are the economic engine of product innovation and job growth.
  • MEP provides access to services and training, allowing companies to increase product innovation and sales, reduce costs and improve customer service.

 

 

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Renewable Energy Is Fastest Growing Energy Sector

Posted on November 30, 2011 by Manex

In the recent November 30, 2011 issue of Manufacturing & Technology News:

The renewable energy industry was the fastest growing of all energy sectors over the past five years, according to the International Energy Agency. The renewable electricity sector grew by 18 percent globally from 2005 to 2009 and now accounts for 19 percent of total world power generation. Hydropower is the biggest contributor, accounting for 84 percent of renewable energy generation (or 16 percent of total generation in 2009). Hydro has grown at the same rate as all renewable energy technologies due mainly to new dams in China.

The other renewable electricity technologies have grown “by an impressive 73.6 percent between 2005 and 2009, a compound average growth rate of 14 percent,” says the IEA. Wind has grown the most rapidly, overtaking bioenergy. Solar photovoltaics has grown by 50 percent, with installed capacity reached 40 gigawatts at the end of 2010. Some renewable energy technologies do not need subsidies in order to be competitive with fossil energy. Wind is now competing without subsidies in many countries. Solar water heating
is expanding rapidly in places like China “due to its favorable economics,” says the IEA.
Renewable energy technologies “should no longer be considered only as high-cost, immature options, but potentially as a valuable component of any secure and sustainable energy economy, providing energy at a low cost with high price stability,” says IEA. “Where technologies are not yet competitive, economic support for a limited amount of time may be justified by the need to attach a price signal to the environmental and energy security benefits of renewable energy deployment, when these are not reflected by current pricing mechanisms.

Support is also justified to allow the newer renewable energy technologies to progress down the learning curve and so provide benefits at lower cost and in larger scale in the near future.” Countries need to develop appropriate policies to promote renewable energy technologies based on their level of development and deployment. The IEA described what these should be in its book “Deploying Renewables 2011: Best and Future
Policy Practice” located at http://www.iea.org/W/bookshop/add.aspx?id=414.

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Manex Warns of Upcoming Rush of Activity to Meet new Federal Legislation and Food Industry Standards

Posted on November 15, 2011 by Manex

The Corporation for Manufacturing Excellence (Manex) announced that it anticipates an upcoming rush of activity for food manufacturers and processors to meet new federal legislation and food industry standards.
All food manufacturers, regardless of size, are required by law to develop and implement a Hazard Assessment and Critical Control Point (HACCP) plan by June 2012. HACCP is a process control system that identifies where hazards might occur in the food production process and puts into place stringent actions to control them.
Food manufacturers are overwhelmed by the food safety requirements. Employing a specialist, such as Manex, removes a great deal of anxiety for the business owner and workers, allowing them to focus on the production of a quality product while still implementing a food safety program that complies with the law. It is in manufacturers’ best interests to create a HACCP plan that they can run effectively in their existing facilities on a day-to-day basis, without introducing shortcuts to meet production goals. A HACCP plan that has been created with the assistance of an experienced manufacturing professional, should meet the objectives of being effective, economical and executable.
“We anticipate a rush of activity in the next six months as companies scramble to meet the June 2012 deadline,” says Hank Holzapfel, President and CEO of Manex. “Many retailers are now requiring all food manufacturers to have a food safety program in place. Waiting until the last minute could be a very costly mistake, and those acting now can really get a leg up on the competition.”
Manex has already assisted a number of Bay Area food manufacturers meet food safety requirements mandated by retailers on short notice. By working with Manex, one East Bay food manufacturer was able to pass a major third-party vendor qualification audit and obtained $5MM in new business. For a South Bay food manufacturer, Manex’s assistance with its food safety program allowed the company to focus on product and process development at a critical time in its startup phase.
The Manex team is made up of highly experienced and certified professionals in food safety, manufacturing and operations, and food science. Multi-lingual training is available.

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