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What is QRM? ... a powerful tool for reducing lead times in all phases of manufacturing and office operations.

Quick Response Manufacturing (QRM) is a companywide strategy to cut lead times in all phases of manufacturing and office operations. It can bring your products to market more quickly and secure your business prospects by helping you compete in a rapidly changing manufacturing arena. It will increase profitability by reducing non–value–added time, cutting inventory and increasing return on investment.

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In tough times, Omnipress cuts time to recover


In the difficult business climate following 9/11 — the last time the economy turned sour — leaders of Madison, Wisconsin-based printing company Omnipress decided it was time for a change.

Specializing in conference and educational meeting material solutions such as printed books, handouts, CD ROMs, or flash drives, Omnipress had to face an unsettling trend. Even though the company consistently finished customer orders on time, costs continued to rise.

Tracy Gundert

"We became really good at dropping everything to get one hot job out of the door, but it totally impacted the rest of our production flow," said David McKnight, CEO of Omnipress. "We wanted to find a way to change our production flow to finish every job faster while eliminating the growing costs from overtime and frequent rework."

Omnipress started its QRM journey with the growing market for conference publications delivered on CDs. With the help from students in the UW-Madison Center for Quick Response Manufacturing, Omnipress reorganized its CD workflow around a newly formed "CD cell," combining all CD-related operations on one team. Cell members were cross-trained to do almost every job, ensuring a flexible workflow. The result was startling.

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Manufacturing Critical-path Time (MCT):
The QRM Metric for Lead Time

Prior to the formulation of MCT, no precise, unambiguous, practical, and universal definition for supplier lead time had been put forth. Such a definition is essential to the success of QRM: If you were interested in reducing lead time, you would need a precise definition of lead time. You can't reduce something if you can't even agree how to measure it!

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UPCOMING EVENTS


QRM Implementation: Industry Case Studies
(QRM Members Only)
December 11, 2009

University of Wisconsin-Madison Engineering Centers Bldg.
Madison, Wis.

 

How to Implement QRM
February 9-10, 2010

DoubleTree Hotel
Madison, Wis.

 

QRM Working Group
(QRM Members Only)
March 17, 2010

University of Wisconsin-Madison Engineering Centers Bldg.
Madison, Wis.

 

How to Plan and Implement POLCA
April 14-15, 2010

DoubleTree Hotel
Madison, Wis.

 

QRM In the News


Manufacturers step up the pace
Quick Response Manufacturing helps companies minimize the time it takes for products to flow through their operations. It can make companies more nimble and responsive — and reduce costs.

QRM Brochure P&H Mining applies QRM in Restructuring (Video)

(Run Time: 4 min)


QRM Brochure QRM in Channel 3 News (Video)

(Run Time: 2.5 min)

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