Welcome to the August edition of Manex ViewPoint, our quarterly e-newsletter. Each issue provides a wealth of information on innovative solutions to maximize your business performance.

We invite you to read our previous issues on our website at the following link.

In This Issue:

 

 


Manex Launches New Executive Advisory Services
ImageManex has launched a broad portfolio of new Executive Advisory Services designed exclusively to assist C-level decision makers with maximizing business performance and accelerating profitable growth. The Manex senior executive team delivers a full spectrum of peer-to-peer advisory services and solutions, using knowledge and expertise gained through a wide range of diverse senior-level business advisory and consulting experience, helping clients achieve rapid ROI and sustained results.

Through a blend of management approaches and proven methodologies, senior executives are provided with strategic guidance and practical solutions to transform their organizational performance and seize opportunities for profitable growth. All services are tailored to the unique needs of each client to hone their business capabilities and to create and sustain competitive advantage.

The specialized suite of services includes competitive strategy, business planning, mergers and acquisitions, enterprise value improvement, marketing strategy, channel management, financial planning, operations and manufacturing strategy, and organization design. This portfolio extends Manex's comprehensive set of strategy capabilities and solutions provided to enterprises. Read more


Manex Helps Manufacturers Increase Top-line Growth of 20%+ With New Services
Image Manex has teamed with Eureka! Ranch, the world's leader in disciplined business growth, to provide manufacturers with a proven system for accelerating top-line growth using EUREKA! Winning Ways®

Key areas of growth include:

  • Capture new customers or markets
  • Create new products, services or business models
  • Improve your sales and marketing effectiveness


EUREKA! Winning Ways® was created for manufacturers by Doug Hall, founder of Eureka! Ranch and hailed by Inc. and Dateline NBC as "America's Top New Product Idea Man". Hewlett-Packard, Johnson & Johnson, Proctor & Gamble, Tenneco, Unilever, and Nike are among some of Eureka! Ranch's clients. The system is also uniquely designed for small and mid-sized manufacturers.

Manex experts certified in the Eureka! Ranch methodologies; lead your organization through a comprehensive process of creatively identifying, selecting and accelerating the most significant growth ideas with the highest odds of success (and greatest impact) to market.

Together, Manex and Eureka! Ranch guarantee that two or more of the ideas a company creates and tests will exceed the average score for Merwyn Research (benchmarking database) or at no cost, we will personally help the organization recreate and retest until at least two ideas score above average.

For more information, please contact Jonathan Lee at jlee@manexconsulting.com.


Benchmarking and Business Assessment Service Assists Manufacturers in Improving upon Performance and Profitability
Image Manex is now offering a benchmarking and business assessment service to assist organizations in making better, more informed decisions to drive company value. This service is based on the "Transforming Planning" tool developed by the Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center (MMTC) which has been recommended by a number of leading industry associations including, Precision Metal Forming Association, the National Tooling and Machining Association, and the Association of Manufacturing Technology.

This service is designed to:

  • Compare financial performance against competitors within an industry segment
  • Contrast cost structure against other "like" companies
  • Assess company performance across 12 key operating metrics
  • Identify areas with the greatest opportunities for improvement


Using an in-depth questionnaire, Manex conducts a comprehensive evaluation and analysis of a company's financial and operational metrics and systems. The company's performance is ranked across 12 separate metrics in direct comparison with equivalent organizations. This common set of metrics includes:

  • Operating margins (as a % of sales)
  • Inventory turns
  • Scrap and freight
  • Run hours
  • Employee turnover and Value-add per FTE


With this critical information and analysis, a company can better understand its position and performance in the industry, resulting in meaningful targets and objectives for future performance.

For more information, please contact Jonathan Lee, jlee@manexconsulting.com.


Manex Provides Integrated Quality Management Services for Manufacturers
Image With manufacturers facing mounting demands to ensure food safety and traceability, meet rising regulatory demands, and prevent CalOSHA citations, Manex has developed a new set of integrated quality management services designed to reduce the complexity of managing various safety standards and maintenance practices.

Using an integrated approach (based on the Deming cycle), these services help manufacturers manage all safety requirements for their statutory, regulatory, and ISO Standards using a single format to significantly reduce paperwork and increase productivity.

The patented and award winning "Safety In Your Hand" handheld system from QMSoutsource is included in the portfolio. Available both on the Internet as a Software as a Service (SaaS) offering or as a standalone program deployed in-house, it can be seamlessly integrated with SAP to enable the Work Clearance Management (WCM) Module and Work Notifications/Orders combination for a handheld delivery. "Safety In Your Hand"' is the recipient of the Quality Assurance Institute "Best of The Best Award 2006" for the best quality process software.

The Standards include:

  • Occupational Health & Safety (OSHAS 18000, Vpppa, ANSI) - Preventive and monitoring checklists provided for occupational hazards.
  • Environmental Safety ISO 14000 - Preventive and monitoring checklists provided for environmental hazards.
  • HACCP/Food Safety ISO 22000 # - Preventive and monitoring checklists provided for Critical Control Point hazards.
  • Maintenance Safety - Creation of electronic permits for Lock Out/Tag Out, Confined Space, and Hot Work.
  • Asset Maintenance - Preventive, monitoring and work order format is within the program to serve the safety applications.
  • All standards reside on an ISO 9001:2000 foundation.


Through a harmonized approach, all individual standards are implemented as a single package to improve efficiency and productivity. This set of services extends Manex's comprehensive set of performance management capabilities and services provided to enterprises. For more information, please contact Jonathan Lee at jlee@manexconsulting.com.

 


Energy Assessments Offered to Help Manufacturers Reduce Energy Consumption
Image In partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and San Francisco State University (SFSU), Manex now offers small- and mid-sized manufacturers energy and waste assessments to help plants quantify potential areas of energy and resource savings. The process involves an in-depth examination of potential savings from energy efficiency improvements, waste minimization and pollution prevention, and productivity improvements.

These assessments are part of the DOE's Save Energy Now initiative created to assist American businesses, factories, and manufacturing facilities in saving energy and continuing to thrive despite volatile and increasing energy costs.

Recommendations from these energy and waste assessments have averaged approximately $55,000 in potential annual savings for each small- and mid-sized manufacturer.

For more information, please contact Jonathan Lee, jlee@manexconsulting.com.


Manex Sponsors Upcoming Pacific Coast Machine Tool Expo, November 13th - 15th; Will Conduct Two Manufacturing Seminars
Image Pacific Coast Machine Tool Expo is the premier regional event for the machine tool, industrial, and manufacturing industries. Now in its 27th year, the Pacific Coast Machine Tool Expo showcases the latest products, services, and technology. A complimentary two-day conference provides attendees with the opportunity to learn the industries latest applications and innovations.

Manex is the exclusive sponsor of the conference and is offering two manufacturing seminars.

5S and Visual Management - Essential to the Lean Enterprise
November 13th, 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM

  • As a key element of workplace organization and standardization, 5S and Visual Management are among essential building blocks of a Lean Enterprise. This session will demonstrate the elements and importance of workplace organization by showing before and after examples of companies that have applied these techniques. Emphasis will be placed on how this methodology creates a foundation for continuous improvement and greater productivity by creating a high-performance workplace.


Lean Six Sigma - Combined Methodologies Achieve Dramatic Improvements
November 14th, 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

  • Combining Lean Manufacturing with Six Sigma can provide dramatic improvements in performance, quality, production efficiency, and profitability. This session will provide an in-depth overview with supporting case study examples. Emphasis will be placed on how the combined methodologies provide the tools for rapidly deployable and sustainable continuous improvement to achieve exceptional bottom-line results.

 


Lean Fundamentals Seminar, Oct 17th - Limited Space Still Available
ImageAccelerate the implementation of Lean in your organization by attending this seminar offered on Wednesday, Oct 17th from 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM.

The seminar provides participants with an overview of the key concepts and economic benefits of Lean, and the discipline involved in tying activities to clearly defined financial results, delivering real bottom-line impact. Participants build an understanding of Lean concepts and principles, and learn how to apply them to various business processes through hands-on simulations of a production facility. The immersive nature of the simulations will result in a much deeper and long lasting understanding of the principles of Lean and continuous improvement.

Learn how to:

  • Develop leadership practices and behaviors to accelerate your Lean initiatives
  • Apply Lean in a systematic approach to create customer-driven processes
  • Implement management systems and processes to support Lean in your organization
  • Overcome common obstacles in building a Lean organization




Manex is Pleased to Announce the Election of Two New Members to Serve on its Board of Directors
ImageManex is pleased to announce the election of George Lotti and John Nelson to serve on the Board of Directors.

  • Lotti is the Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Secretary for Heat and Control, Inc., one of the world's leading manufacturers of food processing and packaging equipment systems.
  • Nelson is the Chief Manufacturing Officer for American Licorice Company, the world leader in the manufacture of extruded candy products, including Red Vines.
Read more


NAM Releases New Report on Manufacturing Chemical Cost and Supply Pressures
ImageThe National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) and the Manufacturing Alliance (MAPI) released a ground-breaking study that confirms that the biggest problem for Manufacturers is the rising cost of doing business at home. The study, "The Hidden Backbone of U.S. Manufacturing: Weakening Under Chemical Cost and Supply Pressures", surveyed 165 manufacturers to gauge the importance of the chemical infrastructure to U.S. manufacturing as a whole, manufacturers' expectations for chemical supplies cost and availability in the future, and the alternative sourcing plans they have to respond to the problem. The report finds:

  • Domestic chemical supplies are vital raw materials to most manufacturers in the United States. Overall, 55% have significant, direct dependence on chemicals for their production.
  • 90% of companies see chemical costs as rising, with 62% calling the increase "substantial". And 43% see domestic chemical capacity decreasing, against only 20% that see it increasing.
  • On average, manufacturers will shift 25% of production abroad if chemical issues of pricing and supply are not solved. This could cause a ripple effect from large companies down to small companies as plants close or are downsized and as local suppliers lose their large company customers.
Read more