Training Within Industries, rooted in training programs going back at least 100 years, is a well-proven methodology that has long been a "hidden part" of the Toyota Production System. Using TWI J-Programs, people skilled in describing work, instructing work, and sustaining worker relations can develop and hold standard work. Inability to hold standard work is one of the major reasons why lean initiatives stagnate instead of progressing on toward autonomous, daily improvement. TWI is being re-born in the United States, and a few companies are beginning to show remarkable results from it.

When there’s an inefficient process, do you reach for your Lean tools or your Six Sigma methodology? You don’t have to choose. Many companies are merging Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma methods into a comprehensive approach to improvement.

The Washington State Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development (CTED), along with the U.S. Department of Commerce, is leading a trade mission to Mexico City June 23-27, 2008. This mission, which is build around the ExpoPack trade show for food processing and packaging equipment, will assist companies in identifying new distribution channels and business partners in Mexico.

“Manufacturers adhering to old supply-chain rules are putting their businesses in jeopardy by not adapting to new rules” that have come about due to the “pressure of a globalizing economy,” according to a report from the National Association of Manufacturers’ Manufacturing Institute. Small- and medium-sized manufacturers have a unique opportunity to start growing their companies, but only if they begin to expand sales overseas and transform their internal processes to take advantage of lean management systems, product innovation and green manufacturing trends. Supply chains are being replaced by “value chains,” says the NAM report

Wages paid to manufacturing workers around the world are catching up to those paid in the United States, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Wages paid in Canada to manufacturing workers jumped beyond those paid in the U.S. for the first time in over a decade.