Over the course of my career, I’ve met numerous continuous improvement and operations professionals. While they are passionate about improving their organization and adding value, often they feel their efforts are unsupported and viewed as being isolated from the other departments. Yet, in many of those same organizations, I have heard the executive team talk
Since Peter Drucker introduced the idea of the Knowledge Worker in the mid 1990’s, it has caused us to think about how we evolve and the skills and competencies required to be effective in our jobs. In manufacturing, the challenges are significant to be able to keep up with the pace of change and shifting
We took some time out to have holiday fun! Check out our ugly sweaters and gingerbread houses.
We agree. Don’t be fooled by false choices. InSource Solutions is lucky enough to live on the edge of technological & process advances in manufacturing and industrial environments. There’s a lot of exciting stuff going on. From advanced technologies and the ideas and innovations they are spawning to increased early STEM educational opportunities that will
At InSource, we are guided by our Unifying Principles (UP) to Contribute, Serve, Build, and Care. We take these principles to heart as an organization and as individuals. Since 2012, Whitney Robertson, Ordering Processing Specialist in our Richmond, VA office, has organized a giving drive to help local Richmond families in need. In the past,
A company for years had celebrated great product volume, good customer recognition of product name, and a wide variety of diversity in product. Return on investments was good with great profit sharing to the employees and management team. Change didn’t happen for well over 50 years because the adage was if it’s not broke don’t
October 1, 2016 — College Park, MD — It was a rainy and cool Saturday as the University of Maryland Terrapins prepared to battle the Boilermakers of Purdue. InSource’s Ted Fluehr and Ann Croom were setting up to welcome the future of Maryland manufacturing. The Maryland Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MD MEP) and Regional Manufacturing Institute
Real-Time and Historical “Decision Support” systems are key operational tools in manufacturing and industrial facilities. Automation has been proven to make a huge difference in operational excellence however, people and their ability to do the right thing makes all the difference in the world. In my last post Better Technology Skillsets Mean Improved Production Up-time,
When asked, most InSource clients say that their Manufacturing Information Systems (e.g. HMI, Historian, etc.) are business critical. In other words, if their Wonderware systems are unavailable, production suffers. So, better engineered systems and the skillsets to manage them become paramount in minimizing production under performance and improving the customer service levels your clients expect
While businesses across numerous industries are in a rush to adopt and deploy data analytics, these investments can actually hurt a company’s efficiency and profitability if this analytics plan is poorly designed or inconsistently executed. These may seem like obvious problems to avoid, but the complexity inherent to performing analytics effectively leads companies to push
Imagine you are on your couch watching your favorite TV show when a car commercial appears spouting praises and accolades how superior innovation makes them number one in their industry. Now, when you hear the word innovation, what comes to mind? In my younger days, I thought of flying cars, robots cutting the grass for
Accurate, timely, and useful data can mean the difference between poor and world-class manufacturing. The difference between satisfied customers and complaints. To ensure data-project success, companies must plan data use requirements. It is vital to understand the context in which data will be consumed throughout the facility and upward through the business. A company’s manufacturing