All Features
Dennis Wylie
You’ve probably had the experience of visiting a contemporary factory floor and being amazed by all the incredible robots, sensors, and machines working like a finely choreographed dance. It’s quite remarkable—until there’s a malfunction. And that’s something which has frustrated quality engineers…
NIST
In the wake of Covid-19 and widespread wildfires, demand skyrocketed for air cleaners, machines that could remove potentially harmful particles from the air in a home. Manufacturers responded by producing a wider variety of air cleaner devices designed for single rooms.
The main purpose of an air…
Susan Robertson
Sharon, a corporate HR leader, spends her days managing her team and helping shape a culture that supports innovation and creative thinking. But when fall rolls around, her evenings are spent with foam wreath forms, mesh ribbon, and a glue gun.
She makes holiday wreaths. Bold ones. Glittery,…
Knowledge at Wharton
Nano Tools for Leaders—a collaboration between Wharton Executive Education and Wharton’s Center for Leadership and Change Management—are fast, effective tools that you can learn and start using in fewer than 15 minutes, with the potential to significantly improve your success and the engagement and…
Adam Grabowski
Capturing real-time data in all areas of the business is vital for maintaining long-term success. When manufacturers conduct business with separate systems, data end up in silos, and information can’t flow in an efficient manner. This prevents smooth coordination of data between people and…
Donald J. Wheeler
When administrative and managerial data are placed on an XmR chart, the first reaction will frequently be that the limits are far too wide: “We have to react before we get to that limit.”
So what are we to do when this happens? Are the limits really too wide? There are three cases to consider:•…
Zach Winn
Artificial intelligence models that turn text into images are also useful for generating new materials. During the last few years, generative materials models from companies like Google, Microsoft, and Meta have drawn on their training data to help researchers design tens of millions of new…
Gleb Tsipursky
In today’s rapidly evolving technological landscape, generative artificial intelligence (gen AI) has emerged as a transformative force, reshaping industries and redefining operational paradigms. It offers unprecedented opportunities for organizations to enhance efficiency, innovation, and…
FLIR
Recent developments in thermal signature analytics have expanded the applications of thermal cameras beyond routine troubleshooting; they now contribute to paper machine control, energy usage benchmarking, wet streak detection, and the identification and prediction of certain classes of sheet…
Troy Harrison
A recent company meeting revealed what management called a “handoff problem.” The sales team would close deals, then toss them over the wall to the service team, which would promptly fumble the relationship because they didn’t understand what had been promised or why the customer bought in the…
Scott Ginsberg
In manufacturing, the term connected worker has quickly gone from emerging concept to executive mandate. As companies grapple with turnover, skill gaps, and increasing complexity, the urgency to modernize frontline work has never been clearer.
What is a connected worker platform?
A connected…
Mike Figliuolo
Most negotiations have an opening bid. That bid becomes the anchor that the rest of the negotiation centers upon. If you’re good at setting anchors—and avoiding being anchored to a number you won’t like—you’ll get more out of your negotiations.
An interesting dynamic that can happen in…
MIT Sloan School of Management
Meritocracy—the idea that individuals should advance and be rewarded on the basis of their talent and hard work—is one of the most widely celebrated ideals in education, business, and government. It shapes how organizations recruit, evaluate, and promote, promising a fair system where the best rise…
Nick Haase
Imagine this: A production line hums along smoothly. Operators clean and check equipment between cycles to spot problems before they snowball. No scrambling. No surprises. That’s what autonomous maintenance looks like.
It’s a concept born from the principles of total productive maintenance (TPM),…
Maartje van Krieken
Your market is shifting, your competitor just pulled ahead, and the one person who could execute the next move has resigned. You can’t get more data fast enough, yet the window to act is closing. In today’s volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) world, this is the moment that defines…
Kristin Burnham
Organizations are eager to benefit from generative artificial intelligence. But in the rush to deploy AI to meet business goals, some companies jump in without fully weighing whether it’s best to buy an existing model, purchase a model and enhance it with their own data, or build a custom AI…
Global Shop Solutions
Small to midsize manufacturers are facing mounting pressure from unpredictable supply chain disruptions. From fluctuating customer demand to reshoring operations and diversifying suppliers, maintaining efficiency and protecting cash flow have never been more critical.
Global instability, shifting…
Bruce Hamilton
In October 1989, my company hosted Total Improvement Process Week, one of the most productive experiences of my career. Our consultant was Ryuji Fukuda, a Deming Prize winner and author of Managerial Engineering (Productivity Inc., 1983), a book I still value for its emphasis on management’s role…
Mike Figliuolo
It’s called “work” for a reason. Most days we’re able to “work” through it and find enjoyment in what we do. But occasionally we’re faced with a grind that saps our strength and threatens to derail us. Fortunately, there are simple techniques for working through that grind.
I love writing this…
Seb Murray
Promoting a “flat hierarchy” with fewer layers of managers might sound modern and progressive. It promises agility, equality, and empowerment. Yet, a new study co-authored by Wharton management professor Saerom (Ronnie) Lee suggests that while flat organizations may appeal to some candidates, they…
Harish Jose
In this article I’m looking at the notion of organizational purposes in light of cybernetic constructivism. The ideas here are inspired by giants like Stafford Beer, Spencer Brown, Ralph Stacey, Werner Ulrich, Russell Ackoff, and Erik Hollnagel.
The corporate world seems to be obsessed with…
Chris Chuang
The plant manager’s day started perfectly. The production schedule was optimized, the teams were aligned, and the shift was running smoothly. Then, a critical pump on Line 3 failed. The floor supervisor tried to radio for maintenance, but his call dropped in the plant’s notorious dead zone. By the…
Akhilesh Gulati
Quality initiatives rarely fail because of bad tools. They fail because people don’t adopt them.
Organizations spend months mapping processes, running kaizen events, or documenting corrective actions, only to watch the improvements unravel when employees quietly return to the “old way.” Leaders…
Brookhaven National Laboratory
Plan a route, grab some snacks, and fuel up. Engineers and scientists have been sending massive magnets from U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) national labs on cross-country road trips.
Magnets are at the heart of many scientific instruments at the DOE’s Brookhaven National Laboratory. They aren’t…
Anthony Vianna
There’s a lot of talk about automation these days, not just in manufacturing circles but also the news in general. As the demands of modern manufacturing grow more complex, and manufacturing industries continue their digital transformation—with automation playing an ever-expanding role—where does…