SUMMARY

• To compete in world-class manufacturing, it is necessary to form a manufacturing strategy for creating high-value products and achieving superior return over the long run.

• Continuous Improvement, Kaizen is the gradual, unending improvement, doing little things better, setting and achieving ever-higher standards.

• A QC circle is a small group that voluntarily performs quality-control activities, self-development, mutual education, and improvement within the workshop.

• Waste and product quality (variability) are the first things that should be studied in a manufacturing operation.

• Benchmarking is the process of identifying, learning, and adapting outstanding practices and processes from any organization, anywhere in the world, to help a company or organization improve its performance.

• Best manufacturing practice is a term used by the federal government to define any manufacturing technique or process that yields superior results.

• Dr. W. Edwards Deming developed a philosophy that requires a company-wide effort to improve the quality system, resulting in a higher quality product.

• Dr. Joseph Juran’s philosophy was improving quality on a problem-by-problem approach, improving quality by evaluating a problem, using some statistics, and developing a plan to eliminate the cause and keep it from recurring.

For more information on CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT see the Website:

www.cinmach.com

Copyright 2004, Industrial Press, Inc., New York, NY

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