As a manufacturer, no one needs to tell you that quality control and management are important for your business. You also know the “why.” No manufacturer would be in business very long with a reputation for subpar product, and you aren’t in the business of posing a danger to your customers, anyway. Many manufacturers, however, are surprised to find that there might be even more they can do in the quality management department — and thus, might see even more benefits, across a more diverse cross-section of metrics (all of which, eventually, feed into your bottom line). We know why quality management is important, and why quality control is an integral part of the manufacturing process. Put simply, you don’t want defective products going out into the market or the field. Today, we’ll cover how to improve the quality management system that you have in place — starting with the…

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Just like you wouldn’t go into a machining project saying that the material you’re using is “metal,” it’s unlikely that you’d make it far into an injection molding product design process with your material choice identified merely as “plastic.”

Lean manufacturing is well into its fourth decade as a landmark efficiency and production principle. From the late 1980s through to today, lean manufacturing (or just “lean”) has helped countless manufacturing firms and facilities streamline their production, improve their quality and, ultimately, improve their bottom line.