Why Kanban…

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By: Adele Samudio

September 14, 2020

“To produce only what is needed, when it is needed and in the amount needed.” Taiichi Ohno

Kanban is known to be an effective methodology to Just-In-Time Production (JIT) and is practiced by many manufacturers worldwide. It is a pull system tool that works to reduce costs, to reduce inventory, and to improve efficiency on the production floor.

Since the inception of this method more and more companies are saving money by producing product for live orders and not anticipated orders; creating a lean-manufacturing practice. As everything, there are advantages and disadvantages of this methodology as briefly listed below.

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Purchasing 101

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Are you new to purchasing in the Manufacturing Industry? Welcome to a brief snippet of what this job is about. From a metal manufacturing view point, everything comes down to Part Numbers and Purchase Orders aka POs. Here at VIP we treat Part Numbers and Prints as one in the same. We like to keep things simple because we always fabricate to print. Fabricating to print is difficult in itself, because there are many engineers that can design parts but can it be built is the question. This is a whole new topic. So staying on topic, you can read more about what a manufacturing print is about by clicking here.

A part number is a print and can also be referred to as a drawing.

Drawing = Print = Part Number

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Welding Shortage in Manufacturing

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05/18/2020 by Adele Samudio

Throughout the last decade, Manufacturing has slowly gained its course back to the US, but in order to continue to stay here, US Manufacturing has to stay current with the Thought Process on how to overcome manufacturing labor shortages. Today, Welding is one of the hardest hit labor shortages.

Technical Skill Labor Shortage: As the Baby Boomers and Gen X skilled Welders are coming upon their last years, within the Manufacturing world, we find ourselves with a limited amount of successors in the field, which was predicted years ago. Today, we are seeing this issue come up more and more.

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How To Speed Up An RFQ

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In Manufacturing time is crucial when sending in a Request for Quote, therefore; you should always submit your request with the proper documentation to speed up the process.

First, you must understand the basic information needed to provide a quote. This information will be required by any manufacturer which is the following.

  • Full Dimensional Prints
    • Material Type
    • Material Thickness
  • Finish call out such as paint or powder.
  • Quantity

With one of these details missing, it is technically impossible to provide a quote. More information about RFQs can be found here.

Now since you understand the basic information needed for an RFQ. The following items are critical details to provide an accurate quote in a timely manner.

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