| 11/08/2008 - New service shows manufacturers how to drive out product cost |
Many companies are removing waste from their processes, but fewer are applying this lean thinking to their actual products, where huge cost savings can be made.
A new Lean Products service from the Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS) North West at The Manufacturing Institute will help businesses extend lean thinking to the design and development of products, where huge impact and cost savings can be made.
“For many firms effective innovation may be more critical to business survival than production costs”, said Haydn Insley of MAS North West. “Being the cheapest candle-maker didn’t help when Edison invented his light bulb. It was innovation that won the day.
“Customers increasingly demand new or improved products, at lower cost and in half the time. To meet this need we have launched a new service to help companies to achieve lean performance on both new and existing products.”
It starts with a fully funded lean products review by a specialist MAS practitioner. This service is available free to manufacturing businesses of all sizes across North West England.
The review will identify bottlenecks in design and development processes that add unnecessary delays and cost. It will help develop a more efficient system that reduces time to market and cost, without compromising on quality.
The MAS practitioner will produce a report detailing practical steps for improving lean product performance.
Small and medium sized manufacturing businesses in the North West can take advantage of subsidised follow-up support to help implement recommendations. This might involve: ideas creation; new product development; product design; design for manufacture; assembly and test; rapid prototyping; product portfolio management; market and competitor analysis; risk management, sales forecasting; setting key performance indicators, or value analysis to reduce the cost of existing products.
To book a fully funded Lean Product Review call 0800 458 9585, www.mas-nw.co.uk |
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