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Content about KDC & Associates Ltd. - Page 3
- From The Fabricator
A silver lining to non-value-added time
- Dec 6, 2013
- Assembly and Joining
- Article
Modern manufacturers need modern technology--but this has become the baseline. Good people can set a fabricator apart.
- From The Fabricator
The hidden costs in manufacturing
- By Dick Kallage
- Nov 25, 2013
- Shop Management
- Article
Taken individually or in combination, hidden costs greatly affect a company’s financial and competitive performance.
- From The Fabricator
No-nonsense lean at Micron Metalworks
- By Tim Heston
- Oct 9, 2013
- Shop Management
- Article
This Minnesota fabricator took a pragmatic approach to lean manufacturing, one that takes the challenges of the job shop into account. Employees focused on communication, organization, and simplicity. The result was an operational and, most important, cultural transformation.
- From The Fabricator
So, exactly what are you going to improve?
- By Dick Kallage
- Sep 5, 2013
- Shop Management
- Article
Cycle time? Labor performance? It’s easy just to pick a random area for improvement, but if a metal fabricator really wants to change operations dramatically, time and effort are needed to identify the root causes in the greatest need of correction.
- From The Fabricator
The will behind continuous improvement
- By Dick Kallage
- Aug 9, 2013
- Shop Management
- Article
We all know about situations in which we spend money and yet nothing improves or even gets worse. But when you do continuous improvement right, you’ll get better financially and see a strong return for that investment.
- From The Fabricator
Stacking the deck for real improvement
- By Dick Kallage
- Jul 12, 2013
- Shop Management
- Article
Improvement that drives real competitive advantage, which means superior margins and valuation, must come from everything that surrounds the mechanical magic of modern manufacturing technology.
- From The Fabricator
The art, science, and frustration of sales forecasting
- By Dick Kallage
- Jun 28, 2013
- Shop Management
- Article
Forecasting, while seemingly futile at times, is something fabricators should take seriously instead of dismissing it as some hocus-pocus best left to Wall Street analysts, politicians, and tarot card readers.
- From The Fabricator
Why do customers buy from you?
- By Dick Kallage
- Apr 24, 2013
- Shop Management
- Article
If you don't know the answer to that question, you aren't listening to your customers closely enough. And that puts the entire organization at risk.
- From The Fabricator
More than numbers drive valuation -- much more
- By Dick Kallage
- Mar 15, 2013
- Shop Management
- Article
Various factors drive company valuation, and one of the most significant is the market characteristics--that is, a company’s sources of revenue and the total available revenue within the company’s reach.
- From The Fabricator
Basics on the financials for metal fabricators
- By Dick Kallage
- Feb 15, 2013
- Shop Management
- Article
Generally, five categories are examined to determine company valuation. All are important in assessing risk-adjusted valuation, but the one that gets the most immediate attention, rightfully, is the financials.
- From The Fabricator
Field selling for fabricators: direct or rep?
- By Richard Kallage
- May 6, 2011
- Shop Management
- Article
When stepping up sales initiatives, shop owners stand at a crossroads: Should they hire a direct salesperson or go with a manufacturer’s rep? There are pros and cons to each. To start, fabricators should fully understand the economics behind the relationship between company managers and sales.
- From The Fabricator
Can lean manufacturing work in the job shop?
- By Tim Heston
- Aug 4, 2010
- Shop Management
- Article
Lean manufacturing has origins in the low-mix, high-volume world. But many job shops have successfully adapted the methodology to the high-mix, low-volume world. The key is to focus on operational commonalities.
- From The Fabricator
Lean implementation failures
- By Richard Kallage
- Jul 11, 2006
- Shop Management
- Article
The most important parts of lean implementation are preparation—especially an objective assessment and development of the business and technical cases for lean—leadership that can get things done, appropriate training, resolution of people issues, and well-designed deployment methods.
- From The Fabricator
The China-dominated manufacturing environment
- By William Barron
- Mar 7, 2006
- Shop Management
- Article
All manufacturers have to realize that what is going on in China will affect them in some way, no matter how small their business is. Protectionist policies from the U.S. government aren't on the horizon to help. Business owners and managers are negligent if they do not make an effort to understand the economic changes caused by China's movement to a market economy in some detail and then use that understanding to evaluate and likely modify their companies' business plans.
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