Even with advancements in technology and automation, the frontline workforce remains essential to modern manufacturing operations.

It’s a great feeling for business leaders when they find a framework they know can change the way their company formulates and executes their goals.

The past few weeks I advised several entrepreneurs who are trying to bring a product or service to market. Each is struggling with whether the minimum viable product (MVP) they’re launching is too minimum and would therefore be nonviable.

Finding good employees has always been a challenge, but these days it’s harder than ever. And it’s unlikely to improve anytime soon.

Often, there’s a razor-thin margin between success and failure.

Many organizations feel the need to be leaner, faster, stronger, more adaptable, and more profitable. The right tool set to get them to that outcome may not be intuitive or singular.

Editor’s note: The following is from a transcript of a forgotten speech given in Tokyo in 1978 by W. Edwards Deming for the Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers (JUSE). Because the original was a poor photocopy, there are small portions of text that could not be transcribed.

When I began my medical device career, I started as a product development engineer.

Does this situation sound familiar? You’re sitting in a meeting, and you and your colleagues are energetically discussing how to handle an important issue or challenge.

In September 2021, I was fortunate to attend the FABTECH conference in Chicago, a sprawling trade show with what must have been billions of dollars of manufacturing equipment on display: robots, automation, 3D printers, you name it.