Driving Change Inside Manufacturing
Today’s manufacturers regularly pave the road for other industries through their entrepreneurial testing of new solutions that position themfor profitable growth. Lean offers a goodexample. Manufacturers have long used Lean tools to reduce waste, eliminate unnecessary activities, improve their company cultures, and enhance value for customers. These same tools are now being adapted for use by insurance companies, banks, government, nonprofits, and schools.You can read more about this trend — and discover some nontraditional Lean successes — in a “New Look for Lean".
This issue also offers some other insightful reads: On page 10 you’ll read about Eureka! Winning Ways®, a new MTI program that helps manufacturers transform new growth ideas into new revenue streams.
Russ Weybright offers a new take on supply chain that “starts back at your suppliers’ suppliers and moves all theway through to your customers’ customers. This expanded definition is important because it provides opportunities for suppliers to bring more value to different parts of the chain.” Check out the results here.
One of the best opportunities for creative, nontraditional thinking will be in how to cope with the looming challenges of the aging workforce. The U.S. Department ofLabor predicts that by 2012, the U.S. economywill have more than 162 million workers, which will be the largest workforce in the country’s history. Trouble is, that is 3 million workers short of the number of jobs that will be available. And it’s going to get worse. As 76 million U.S. baby boomers retire over the next 20 years, only 48 million Generation Xers will be available to take their place. Check out “Keep the Change” (note: article missing) for the first installment of our two-part look at some nontraditional ways that Minnesota companies are using to solve the problem.
Finally, this October we celebrate the 2007 Minnesota Manufacturing Month. Let’s thank the manufacturers in our local communities that contribute to the lives of their employees, Minnesota’s workforce, and the strength of our economy.
Regards
Bob Kill
President Minnesota Technology, Inc.
bkill@mntech.org