Productivity Zone^TM
MLE Consulting developed the Productivity Zone^TM model to help clients in manufacturing better understand their current operation, identify areas which need improvement, and then create the environment where they can compete successfully in the marketplace.

The Productivity Zone^TM is a unique tool that focuses on the work station and how the factors present in the manufacturing environment affect it and its product. Five elements essential to productivity in every manufacturing operation are applied:

• Specifications
• Materials
• Tooling
• Quality Control
• Training

Each of these factors must be evaluated as they interrelate to each other at the work station. They also must be examined as they relate to the current job, the next job and future jobs.

The five elements for the current job must be within the span of control (at an arm's length) of the operator. Those required for the next job must be staged nearby the work station. To hold them within the work station creates clutter and reduces productivity. Later jobs -- next week and next month -- are stored further away and move toward the center of the productivity zone as their priority increases.

The Seven Deadly Wastes
Waste elimination is one of the most effective ways to increase profitability in manufacturing and distribution businesses. In order to eliminate waste, it is important to understand exactly what waste is and where it exists in the factory or warehouse. While products differ in each factory, the typical wastes found in manufacturing environments are quite similar.

After years of work to eliminate waste, Toyota, the Japanese automobile manufacturer, identified the following seven types of waste as the most prominent ones:

1.      Waste from overproduction

2.      Waste of waiting time

3.      Transportation waste

4.      Processing waste

5.      Inventory waste

6.      Waste of motion

7.      Waste from product defect

Hyperlink to Seven Deadly Wastes whitepaper