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QRM 2008: Eighth International Conference on Quick Response Manufacturing
Foundations for a Competitive Future 
June 16-17 Madison, Wis. USA
QRM Center Welcomes New Director
Ananth Krishnamurthy brings industry experience,
academic expertise to new position
Ananth Krishnamurhty has been named director of the QRM center, succeeding Rajan Suri. He brings a decade of QRM experience along with expertise in material control strategies, assembly operations, warehouse designs, and supply chain strategies to support lead time reduction.
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.
Learn more ...
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!
Learn More ... [PDF]
Initial success with QRM leads to
restructuring entire organization
Omnipress joined the QRM Center in December 2003 after our core management team attended the two-day How to Implement QRM workshop. We quickly applied some of the QRM principles to our print manufacturing process. By eliminating “white space” — QRM founder Rajan Suri’s name for the time a job is waiting between steps — we were able to realize significant job-specific improvements not only in our cycle time, but also in the reduction of production hours and required resources.
In spring 2004 we participated in a student-led project and created a Q-ROC [Quick Response Office Cell] for our CD Rom product. We were so impressed with the results that in January of 2005 we restructured our entire organization into cross-functional collocated product cells to support further QRM improvements.
Lead times have been reduced by a minimum of 30% and as much as 70% for some product lines. By eliminating white space and process redundancies, we have been able to better utilize our team members. QRM has provided us not only with the structure to become a team-oriented organization, but also a process to rally around common goals and achieve better-than-predicted results.
David McKnight, CEO
Tracy Gundert, VP of Operations
Omnipress
Madison, Wis.
P&H Mining applies QRM in Restructuring (Video)
(Run Time: 4 min)
(Run Time: 2.5 min)
UPCOMING EVENTS
QRM 2008
International Conference on
Quick Response Manufacturing
June 16—17, 2008
Monona Terrace
Convention Center
Madison, Wis.
How to Implement
Quick Response Manufacturing
July 29—30, 2008
Double Tree Hotel
Madison, Wis.
How to Plan
and Implement POLCA
October 20—21, 2008
Double Tree 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.
Rajan Suri, QRM Theory Honored by SME International Award
Rajan Suri, creator of the theory of Quick Response Manufacturing and founding director of the QRM Center, has been named winner of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers 2006 Albert M. Sargent Progress Award.
More...