ow long it takes a shop floor employee to do something is a direct cost to the manufacturer, and a true cost that must be built into the profit analysis. As the elimination of waste is important for the maximization of profits in any operEnterprise Resource Planning (ERP) for manufacturing is, in short, the consolidation of a series of interconnected processes that when added together efficiently produce a finished product. In turn, each process has its own certain requirements that are specific to their area function—its own way of “doing things”. For example, inventory management involves the processes of acquiring, storing, and distributing parts and other raw material to the various aspects of the operation. Shipping entails packaging and transportation of finished goods. In each instance, procedures should be developed in such a way that efficiencies are built into the system to save manpower time and other above-the-line costs. When these efficiencies are realized in the process we are said to be lean and eliminating waste in the manufacturing effort.

On the shop floor, manpower is a valuable resource measured in terms of time-to-task. That is to say, how long it takes a shop floor employee to do something is a direct cost to the manufacturer, and a true cost that must be built into the profit analysis. As the elimination of waste is important for the maximization of profits in any opera

certain requirements that are specific to their area function—its own way of “doing things”. For example, inventory management involves the processes of acquiring, storing, and distributing parts and other raw material to the various aspects of the operation. Shipping entails packaging and transportation of finished goods. In each instance, procedures should be developed in such a way that efficiencies are built into the system to save manpower time and other above-the-line costs. When these efficiencies are realized in the process we are said to be lean and eliminating waste in the manufacturing effort.

On the shop floor, manpower is a valuable resource measured in terms of time-to-task. That is to say, how long it takes a shop floor employee to do something is a direct cost to the manufacturer, and a true cost that must be built into the profit analysis. As the elimination of waste is important for the maximization of profits in any oper

the operation. Shipping entails packaging and transportation of finished goods. In each instance, procedures should be developed in such a way that efficiencies are built into the system to save manpower time and other above-the-line costs. When these efficiencies are realized in the process we are said to be lean and eliminating waste in the manufacturing effort.

On the shop floor, manpower is a valuable resource measured in terms of time-to-task. That is to say, how long it takes a shop floor employee to do something is a direct cost to the manufacturer, and a true cost that must be built into the profit analysis. As the elimination of waste is important for the maximization of profits in any oper

en these efficiencies are realized in the process we are said to be lean and eliminating waste in the manufacturing effort.

On the shop floor, manpower is a valuable resource measured in terms of time-to-task. That is to say, how long it takes a shop floor employee to do something is a direct cost to the manufacturer, and a true cost that must be built into the profit analysis. As the elimination of waste is important for the maximization of profits in any oper

ow long it takes a shop floor employee to do something is a direct cost to the manufacturer, and a true cost that must be built into the profit analysis. As the elimination of waste is important for the maximization of profits in any operation, machine set-ups must be considered when building lean production processes. Indeed, it is in the machine set-up period when efficiencies are won or lost. Today, manufacturers have a distinct advantage in realizing lean set-up through the use of Graphical User Interface (GUI) terminals conveniently located throughout the shop floor. At the GUI terminal, employees can quickly and easily acquire a variety of assembly and schedule data to help them in rapidly setting up a machine for production.

In the past, any process instructions for the set-up and machining/assembly of parts (image and/or text) would arrive to the work center as enveloped paperwork. Depending upon the frequency of use, instruction pages would often be torn, smudged, or missing altogether. Employees would spend valuable time in the search for information or in slowly setting up machines based upon unavailable or inaccurate information. However, with the GUI terminal pa