Vision systems when combined with the right software provide intelligent image recognition – offering the high level automated quality assurance a business needs during the production and packing process. This continuously evolving technology cost-effectively ensures products are fit for purpose, with any potential for mistakes eliminated. Companies can spend a great deal of time, energy […]
If you’re on the path to leaner quality, then quality control is not just a non-value-adding ‘evil’. We’ve talked a bit about quality control (QC) and quality assurance (QA) on the path to being “lean”. (See Quality, parts One and Two, and also check out how SME’s can benefit from lean manufacturing.) QC (traditional approach) […]
Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) is an analysis of a manufacturer’s efficiency and productivity, the results of which are displayed in a hierarchy of metrics. Formulated in the 1960s by Seiichi Nakajima, OEE is now globally recognised as a best practice measure and key performance indicator in a range of manufacturing industries – from pharmaceuticals to the […]
In Part 1, we looked at how ‘quality’ is one of the biggest issues in food manufacturing, and is the lowest common denominator in the inter-dependent concepts of ‘lean manufacturing’, ‘six sigma’, ‘kaizen’ and Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE). This time I’m going to look at how to actually meet the ‘quality’ expectations of retailers and […]