In January of 2001, Blue Diamond Manufacturing, a leader in the manufacture of automated dairy milking parlors, was purchased by multi-national corporation DeLaval after 37 years of private ownership by its founder and CEO Chuck Rogers. As the transition progressed from a stand-alone manufacturing company to being part of a worldwide corporation with competitive manufacturing operations across the globe, General Manager Ken Johnson knew that DeLaval Blue Diamond would have to change to remain competitive in the new organization. After months of research and investigation, Ken and his team decided on Lean Manufacturing as their course of action.

State Senator Margarita Prentice was presented the Second Annual Friend of Manufacturing Award at this year’s Manufacturing Appreciation Week Legislative Reception.

WMS offers a variety of educational seminars targeted to Washington manufacturers. Upcoming events:

Six Sigma is total quality management turbocharged. Implemented properly, Six Sigma is a proven approach to achieving major cost reductions, huge increases in quality, radically reduced cycle times, and big increases in customer satisfaction and revenue.

Here are the six biggest myths about Six Sigma:

Effective business coaching is much more than setting goals, assembling to-do lists, and checking in with your coach to say if you did or didn’t do your items. There are reasons why each of us has not already achieved what we desire. These reasons are usually far deeper than not getting around to making a “to-do” list.

This is the first of three articles provided by Tyee Partners on best practices of good cash management and common pitfalls to avoid. Each article will address one of the three primary methods to generate cash to operate and grow a business: operating profit, debt, and equity investment.

Employment in the high-tech sector of the U.S. economy continued its downward drift last year, according to the American Electronics Association’s annual “Cyberstates” report.