More often than not, manufacturers have capital tied up in inventory that could otherwise be invested in growth. This is typically due to less-than-optimal production systems rather than over-purchasing, so most of the bloat resides in work-in-process (WIP). The good news is that manufacturers can ...

Do you sometimes feel as if you live in a state of frustration when it comes to inventory control? We hear precast manufacturers and infrastructure contractors tell us that inventory management is the source of greatest inefficiency for their operations; both for the time that it consumes and the ...

When a large capital investment in new equipment is made, the purchase is always accompanied by our intention to optimize its useful life with proactive maintenance on a regular schedule. In practice, maintenance typically follows some partial or complete breakdown, usually because regular ...

Kamps Pallet is a lean manufacturing success story. As a manufacturer of pallets, the company serves as a good model for infrastructure manufacturers seeking to improve profiability in a low-margin business.

At a time of massive investment need and short capital supply, productivity in the manufacturing and construction of infrastructure is essential. Lean Manufacturing principles have been proven to be excellent tools and therefore timely for infrastructure.

The really BIG problem this country has with its aging infrastructure is becoming well known outside of those of us who think about it for a living. CBS's 60 Minutes ran a piece last November called Falling Apart: America's Neglected Infrastructure. Earlier this month, comedian John Oliver produced ...

They say necessity is the mother of invention. State Departments of Transportation are faced with necessity of unprecendented proportions. Consequently, they now thinking differently about how they want to manage their infrastructure investments. The DOT vendors who understand this will enjoy a ...

We developed Idencia in the firm belief that tracking information about the manufacture and maintenance of concrete products would be of great value to infrastructure project owners. (Picture credit NPCA) Being responsible for public safety, they need to know everything they can about the integrity ...

Last week we announced the release of Idencia v1.3, making product tracking for concrete and steel structures even easier. Our customers and prospects asked us to enable the system to track information about products according to job. We did that. They also wanted to be able to use Idencia to track ...