Writing standard work instructions (SWIs) takes time and patience but they are worth the pain in the end.  SWIs help to ensure standardized procedures for optimal productivity.  This helps with consistency in production—which is what we want!  SWIs are also great for training new employees.  What better thing to leave the new worker with than detailed step-by-step instructions on how to do a job?  The objective of an SWI is to be able to explain the procedure to anyone not familiar with the system.

When writing SWIs make sure to include as much detail as possible.  This includes but is not limited to:  job title, purpose, scope, and job related definitions.  In the procedure section include the action and who’s responsibility it is to perform.  In this section step-by-step pictures are also extremely useful.

(more…)

Share:

Internships provide basic work experience to a student before graduation and starting full time work.  Most of the time this experience is invaluable for a student up and coming in the particular area of study.  Internships help in job interviews and gaining full time employment, whether it is with the same company that was interned with or a new one.

For example my current internship is showing me exactly how the factory works—from order taking through production and final product shipment.  This gives me valuable insight on how the entire company operates and can then help me attain full time employment with the company.

(more…)

Share:

We’ve been hearing about the slow but unrelenting downfall of traditional media over the last couple years. By ‘traditional media’ I am refering to information providers that rely predominantly on print media, paid subscriptions and the related revenue from advertisers. Aside from the breakdown in traditional communication, this has never seriously bothered me until recently. Friday, April 16th, I found out that Reed Business Information is shutting down operations of two industry publications of interest to APICS members: Logistics Management and Supply Chain Management Review.

Ouch! I’ve been in the logistics and operations business for two years now, and both of these were sources of invaluable information for me… especially when I was first getting started. Each also maintained active websites with bloggers who worked in our industry giving timely commentary on the continually changing atmosphere we work in. To say that I am going to miss these resources is an understatement.

(more…)

Share:

In February my school held an event called ‘Internship Mania’ where eager college students put on their best suits and go into the event wielding a hopefully impressive resume as well as their persuasive/people skills. As we go and hand out a slew of resumes to hopefully have wooed a company into thinking we are good enough for at least a follow up email, getting the foot in the door.

Well, as luck would have it, APICS aided me greatly in securing an internship with a reputable company. They asked me about my involvement and what I had actually done as far as experience in the field where I was able to talked about the Case Competition and the tours. But I digress, actually, I was fortunate enough to lock down TWO for this summer, although destroying any chance of relaxing this three month break from classes, I am well aware that the experience I will receive from these is going to be absolutely priceless.

(more…)

Share:

Humility is one of the most important keys to gaining understanding, so let’s begin this post by eating some humble pie. Operations is not a magical skill set that a select few of us have but rather a practice that every person uses, consciously or subconsciously, on a daily basis. Operations encompasses such basic skills as ‘problem solving’, ‘time management’, ‘methodology’, and ‘planning’ that we have been engaging in since our kindergarten years.

 The truth is, all of us make Cost to Benefit Analyses (CBAs) on a daily basis. Should I switch to the new Droid phone? Should I lease or buy my next vehicle? Family time v. work time. What should I do this week-end? What’s the best way to get from point A to point B? The fact is that we instinctively do so much operations management in our day to day lives that everyone should count the years they’ve been alive on their resumes as ‘operations specialists’.

(more…)

Share:

On Friday February 12th, I had the opportunity to tour the Bush’s Baked Beans manufacturing facility in Augusta, Wisconsin. While there I learned much about the company as well as how quickly a continuously run line can actually work. In addition to that I also saw how a few semi-skilled workers along with a healthy amount of automation can streamline any operation.

When you walk in, you are required to wear a “Visitor” white button-up shirt; also you have to wear a hairnet and earplugs. After that they told us you are not allowed to have anything in your pockets above the waist, and then they said no jewelry. These precautions are necessary because you cannot have any of the above falling into the cans of beans. Then they gave us a little disclaimer saying that this plant was not designed for tours, so be aware of your surroundings.

(more…)

Share:

So, I’ve been working here for an official 3 months~~~ Hurray! I think that’s my probation period, hope I passed!

It is not till I have to work with people in China, then I know how different they are. They think completely different from the people I work with here in the Concord office. Not just the sequence of words in language, but also why they do things the way they do. I think people in the US just assume things when they think that’s common sense, but “common sense” is different from country to country.

(more…)

Share:

From the production of airplanes to making a sandwich operations is truly everywhere. The concept behind there is one best way to do everything applies to nearly every situation. What inspired me to talk about this was when I was donating plasma on Thursday and how unbelievably organized the entire process was, it seemed very much like controlled chaos.

To start one must call there automated call center to listen to how the plasma saves lives, the requirements to donate, then the possible risks involved. After that they ask you to press a button to speak to an operator to schedule an appointment. Once an appointment is schedule they remind you to arrive early, eat a good meal and drink a lot of water.

(more…)

Share:

In my Future Leaders Program, we are compiling a check list from the BSCM (Basics of Supply Chain Management) which is these 2 practice books for preparing the first module of CPIM. After we figure out a good way to do this, we’ll do the same for all the module, then compare it with decision making or actions of some real company managers who has CPIM. This way we can find out if there is a gap between what the text book teaches compare to what people can really do in their job. If there is a gap, how big is the gap? Can we minimize the gap? Is there anything we are not thinking about when writing the textbooks?

I was in charge of Session 7 Item Inventory Management, it was teaching me about some inventory ordering methods.

(more…)

Share:

This interview was with Susan Weinschenk Phd, CUA, Chief of UX Strategy, Americas, the “UX” stands for user experience. This interview taught me a lot about the profession as well as what to expect should when I (hopefully) join the ranks of working management. This interview also contains some general information about searching for jobs and resume preparation.

1. What made you choose management as a profession?

(more…)

Share: