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HOW TO IDENTIFY AND FIX PRODUCTION DELAYS

Learn how to spot real backlogs, calculate delays, and act fast to keep production on track and deliveries on time.

Ten principles for effective production planning

Discover ten practical principles that make production planning in complex, high-mix, low-volume environments more reliable, flexible, and predictable.

A balanced workload: say goodbye to production delays

Discover how workload control (WLC) balances capacity and demand to cut delays, reduce stress, and boost on-time delivery in complex production.

POLCA streamlines production and reduces WIP

Learn how POLCA, a card-based system for high-mix, low-volume production, helps reduce WIP, shorten lead times, and use production capacity efficiently.

CONWIP: a simple method to improve planning

Get a grip on your production planning. How to reduce WIP and shorten lead times in complex production environments with Kanban and CONWIP.

Solve planning challenges by reducing Work in Progress

Overloaded production? Discover how reducing WIP, Work in Progress/Process, improves efficiency, lowers costs, and enhances delivery times.

Less WIP, shorter lead times: two concrete methods

High WIP causes long lead times and planning problems. This article takes you through practical methods you can use to reduce WIP efficiently.

Three persistent production planning myths, debunked

Uncover three common production planning myths and learn how debunking them boosts efficiency and on-time delivery.

Reshoring Production Without Increasing Costs

Over the last 20 years European manufacturers have seen large numbers of jobs being lost while production has been “outsourced” …

COMPANIES LEARN FROM RAPID COVID VACCINE DEVELOPMENT

Until recently, the world record for developing a vaccine was the mumps vaccine, which was developed in four years. We now know that it can be…

VUCA: the new reality - by Dominique Andreux

Welcome to the new reality. The Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity (VUCA) inherent in today’s world is becoming the ‘new reality’…

The formula of success - by Sergi Mussons

I would like to ask you to think about how you would best define leadership. Close your eyes and stop reading. Think about how you would …

Working in teams: Cell structure is the future

We are developing into a Quick Response Society where everyone and everything is interconnected, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week …

FOUR PRACTICAL TIPS TO CREATE SPARE CAPACITY - PART 2

In the first article of this series, we discussed how a little bit of spare capacity can drastically reduce your lead times. In this second blog …

Working in teams: QRM and work cells (Q-ROC’s)

Working in teams? That’s nothing new for most companies. By placing a group of employees together, they will work in a team context. Constructive, right? …

Why is Job Rotation Important for QRM?

Cross-training is very much a core element of Quick Response Manufacturing (QRM) cells in both production and office areas …

QRM from an Employee's Perspective, or ‘WIIFM?’

Prior to implementing Quick Response Manufacturing (QRM) cells, management should spend some time preparing answers …

Why you shouldn't aim for perfection

Aiming for perfection sounds interesting, but it can also be a pitfall. Economically speaking, perfection appears to be far from ideal …

FOUR PRACTICAL TIPS TO CREATE SPARE CAPACITY - PART 1

Intuitively, we all know that lead times increase if you receive more orders. To understand the magnitude of this effect, we need to look at the …

Why a better cost calculation, may reduce profits

The pricing of a product has a large influence on the sales revenue and the profit. Surprisingly, research shows that a more accurate cost estimation …

The paradox of planning - by Pascal Pollet

Planning tools often generate high expectations. In this blog you will read why even the most advanced planning tools often disappoint …

AVAILABLE NOW IN ENGLISH! The MCT Quick Reference Guide

This handy book is a working reference, and a must-have, for all QRM practitioners using the MCT metric in continuous improvement projects! …

MCT Mapping Tool

The first key concept of QRM is “realizing the importance of time”. It helps the company and its managers become aware of its true value and understand how long delays affect …

QRM VS LEAN MANUFACTURING

Currently the concept of Lean has become a bit vague, as many other techniques or methodologies included within the range of Lean Manufacturing. That’s why it is often difficult to …

Four keys to QRM - Latest blog by Sirris:

Quick Response Manufacturing (QRM) can rightly be called the production strategy of the 21st century. This approach, which is specifically …

Rushing orders is (almost) never acceptable!

Around Christmastime, it seems to be the end of the world for many companies. Everybody is
working overtime to get the orders …

How to simply measure the quality of cooperation

Everybody realizes that excellent cooperation in an organization is essential in achieving results, but how do you measure the quality …

IMPORTANCE OF A BOARD MEETING IN A QRM IMPLEMENTATION

What is a board meeting? It’s a method for communicating and sharing information from a central point in the department. It’s important that …

Why you should no longer focus on supply reliability

Supply reliability is an important factor for many customers when assessing your company. How can you improve it? Research has shown that …

Introducing member... Sirris, Belgium

Sirris is the collective centre of the Belgian technology industry. Founded in 1949 as a non-profit organisation with the mission to improve the …

Why advanced planning tools are sometimes disappointing

Many manufacturing companies dream about streamlined planning and investing in advanced planning tools. This way they hope to control …

Introducing member... 4Results, Poland

4Results is a Polish consulting and training company founded in 2005. The headquarters is situated in Warsaw, the capital of Poland. The company has …

How QRM boosts your Industry 4.0 transformation

After working in North America for 20 years, Olivier went back to his home country France where he recently visited Global Industry 2019 …

Introducing member... QRM Institute Barcelona

QRM Institute Barcelona is the official centre for the dissemination of agile operation strategies and Quick Response Manufacturing in Spain …

Why a paperless factory is bad for your company

Industry 4.0 and digitization are the modern buzzwords in the industry. The confidence in the power of digital technologies is now so great …

INTRODUCING MEMBER… QUICK RESPONSE ENTERPRISE

Quick Response Enterprise is a consulting organization located in Lyon, FR. We help companies grow in fast-moving and volatile environments …

WHY TRULY SMART FACTORIES ARE ASTONISHINGLY SIMPLE

The ‘smart factory’ is a magical term in the modern industry. Case studies indicate that you have to make your factory simpler, before you can …

SLASHING LEAD TIMES IN BELGIUM WITH QRM & POLCA

A few years ago, management at Provan, a small metalworking subcontractor in Genk, Belgium, found that they had become victims of their …

Creating flow with System Dynamics

When people generally react to QRM: “Isn’t that planning to 80% capacity?” That indeed is the first number we call out when it comes to creating flow …