Category Archives: Uncategorized
When to Think Scale-up?
For many small companies just starting out, scale-up is a distant dream. This is a topic for when their product is in full production and they will have time to devote to perfecting the pipeline and operational processes. Not so! … Continue reading
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Answer the Question!
Many unsuccessful project and product outcomes can be traced back to a simple fundamental: What is the basic question being asked, or need being answered? Usually the answer being furnished is technically correct, but does not address the questioner’s underlying … Continue reading
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Institutionalizing Continuous Improvement
Continuous improvement is a principle that everyone agrees with. How to make sure it actually happens at the desk level for each individual contributor? People pay attention to what gets measured, and what affects their paychecks. Annual reviews get outsize … Continue reading
Small Products, Small Sales, Big Impact!
Most companies have varied product lines which fall into the classic Pareto pattern: 80% of sales come from 20% of the product range. To state the obvious deduction from this: 20% of sales come from the remaining 80% of the … Continue reading
Product Selection and the Donut Shop
It is an axiom that greater product selection invariably generates greater sales. This is most likely true, as any incremental sale adds to the top line. But does this do the business any good? Does it yield bottom-line revenue, ie … Continue reading
Pruning the Product Portfolio for Profitability
As companies grow, product lines tend to expand as new opportunities arise. This can be through a planned result (R&D), or a series of special situations which look attractive at the time. Years later, the same products often remain in … Continue reading
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Lower Inventories as a Tool for Better Customer Service
There is an old adage that you can always buy better service by increasing your inventory level. While generally true (having more safety stock will guard against supply chain “oops” or market variations), this generally equates to employing more working … Continue reading
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Leveraging Multi-plant Capabilities in Development
Second in a series of periodic essays on manufacturing and process development issues. Most companies start out one plant at a time. This plant is of course self-contained, with a unit for all the key functions – R&D, Development, … Continue reading
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