Lean production is not a new concept in the manufacturing industry. Today, it is applied throughout our everyday life; we just often don’t recognize it. When done right, lean doesn’t just change the way you manufacture; it is a philosophy that changes the way you think about manufacturing. And it doesn’t only apply to the manufacturing floor...
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This video shows the main concepts and tools that we use in KMC Systems' lean medical device manufacturing environments to deliver medical instrumentation in a quicker, more cost-effective manner.
Topics: KMC Systems, medical device lean manufacturing, lean manufacturing, medical device manufacturing, lean medical manufacturing
Part 2 of KMC's "Lean Medical Device Manufacturing" blog series
Aside from the improved cost, time-to-market and quality benefits for KMC customers, the lean medical device manufacturing philosophy in the medical manufacturing process also empowers employees.
| Manufacturing Support Team |
“One of the early concerns with introducing lean practices at KMC was that there may be a reduction in the work force,” David Burns, KMC’s assembly manager, said. “That’s a big misconception. In fact, lean medical device manufacturing actually has the reverse effect. By creating greater efficiencies, there is more opportunity to cross-train and make employees even more valuable to the company and the company more valuable to the employees. The more skill sets an employee has, the more valuable they are.”
Topics: medical device contract manufacturer, medical device lean manufacturing, medical device manufacturers, lean manufacturing, medical device manufacturing, lean medical device manufacturing
Part 1 of a two-part series
Applying its lean manufacturing practices to medical devices and instrumentation, KMC Systems Inc. is achieving significant time-to-market, cost and quality improvements for its customers. “Lean manufacturing helps us trace, create and maintain efficiencies with regards to labor and material expenses,” David Burns, KMC’s assembly manager, explained. “Using lean principles, we are better able to show the customer more accurately what it costs to build and test the device and deliver on that.”
Topics: medical device manufacturer, KMC Systems, medical device contract manufacturing, medical device lean manufacturing, lean manufacturing, medical device manufacturing, lean medical device manufacturing, medical contract manufacturing, medical device development and manufacturing, lean manufacturing practices
One of the key benefits of a successful lean medical device manufacturing program is the synergistic effect realized from a committed and focused team. In fact without the commitment of the entire team a lean system can fail. It is this interdependency of team members that fuels the team spirit, an essential element of lean medical manufacturing program success.
Let’s talk about lean manufacturing in situ and team …
Back in the day (~480 BC) the famous Greek battleship commander Themistocles gained acclaim for leading the attack and ultimately destroying the Persian fleet. His fleet of trireme ships were of an eloquent design. They provided the superior evasive speed and ramming power to be victorius in the battle of Salamis.
So one might ask … How did they power this ship? (hint – this is where the team part comes in).
The standard warship in Greece at that time was the trireme, a vessel which had three banks of oars with one man to each oar. The total crew of a trireme was about 200, of whom 170 were oarsmen.
Immediately, I’m thinking how did they ever coordinate their rowing strokes? … especially when the need for course correction was necessary !!
Topics: medical device manufacturer, KMC Systems, medical device contract manufacturing, medical device lean manufacturing, lean manufacturing
Employees, a company’s most important asset, must take the initiative to discover opportunities that will create and deliver results-oriented value to their customers. Studies have shown that employees have a genuine desire to make contributions to the business, but to do so they must:
Topics: medical device contract manufacturing, lean manufacturing, lean medical device manufacturing, lean manufacturing practices
