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QRM in the News-ARCHIVE
Custom solutions keep manufacturers competitive
Every weeknight when the lights come up on the set of “The Tonight Show” the staff at Electronic Theatre Controls (ETC) can point to the television screen and say "we did that."
As a global company, ETC produces lighting fixtures for many countries, each with different voltage and connector standards. To find a way to efficiently produce a variety fixtures, the company turned to the UW–Madison Center for Quick Response Manufacturing (QRM). The center is a partnership between UW–Madison and more than 50 member companies dedicated to researching and implementing quick-response manufacturing (QRM) principles, methods and tools.
Read the full story on how companies use QRM to cut lead times and grow their business (PDF).
For an HTML version, please check the Wisconsin Idea website.
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 started to implement QRM principles in 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 almostevery job, ensuring a flexible workflow. The results were startling. Read the full story here.
Innovative solution in a tough business climate
In a challenging economic environment, manufacturers look for new ways to compete in a global marketplace. As part of OEM Off-Highway Magazine's cover story "In the Spirit of Shackleton" (July 2009), QRM Center director Ananth Krishnamurthy explained how QRM has helped companies in making highly customized products at a competitive price. "Some of our member companies, even in this down economy, have been able to not only maintain but also grow their market because their competition is suffering," said Krishnamurthy. Read the complete story and Prof. Krishnamurthy's recommendations on how to move forward.
QRM part of National Oilwell Varco's success
In its annual ranking of the 500 largest (by sales) publicly traded companies in the U.S.
and Canada, measured in their success at boosting their sales and cash flow, Barron’s Magazine,
a major business weekly, ranked QRM Center member company National Oilwell Varco within the top
three. The company attributes its strong growth in part on improved manufacturing efficiencies,
brought about by the implementation of Quick Response Manufacturing.
More...
QRM Center welcomes new director
Fourteen years after launching and continuously leading the Center for Quick Response Manufacturing, QRM founder Prof. Rajan Suri has handed the reins to Prof. Ananth Krishnamurthy.
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
TCI Moves to Quick Response Manufacturing of Supporting Equipment for Variable-Speed Electric Drives
P&H digging in
Firm invests in plant to meet mining boom
University center offers speed boost to manufacturers
"Quick response manufacturing" touted as cost-saving organization method
More...
Electronic Theatre Controls, a member of the QRM Center since February 1995, has completed a $20 million, 250,000-square-foot headquarters in Middleton, Wis., a community on the northwest edge of Madison.
Showcasing its theatrical lighting products, the office portion of the building resembles a town square, with store fronts, a theater with a glowing marquee, and a clock-tower in one corner -- scenes painted on wire mesh suspended from the ceiling with functional areas behind them.
ETC's products can be found in a broad range of applications from the United Nations General Assembly Hall in New York to the Williams-Sonoma store in San Francisco, from Disney theme parks around the world to London's Royal Opera House, from the Osaka Dome in Japan to Abu Dhabi TV.
Founded in 1975 by CEO Fred Foster and his brother, ETC has a German division and branches in London, Rome, Copenhagen and Hong Kong. It employees 520 employees and expects to do $130 million in sales this year.
ETC also has acquired IES, a Dutch company that specializes in silent light dimmers for concert halls and theaters. The acquisition also includes Penko Engineering, an IES sister company that makes electronic weighing systems used in manufacturing. The purchase adds 34 employees.
Trans-Coil, Inc., Milwaukee, has successfully passed its ISO 9001:2000 registration audit and is being recommended for certification, culminating a nine-month process. Brian Sobczak, Manager of Organizational Development & Continuous Improvement, led the effort.
The improvements realized from implementing Quick Response Manufacturing assisted TCI in establishing an ISO 9001:2000 quality management system. Two of the key components of the ISO 9001:2000 standard are continuous improvement and customer satisfaction. Through years of learning about and applying QRM, TCI has focused its improvement efforts on removing time from its business system and increasing customer satisfaction.
Trans-Coil also incorporated the word "responsiveness" in its Quality Policy, reflecting the importance of and positive impact implementing Quick Response Manufacturing has had on the company. The first sentence of the Quality Policy is "Trans-Coil, Inc. strives to be our customers' 'supplier of choice' by providing products, services, and responsiveness that meets their expectations and ensures their success."
Trans-Coil manufactures peripheral products for variable-frequency drives and other electronic power-conversion equipment. It has been a QRM member since March 2000.
Alexandria Extrusion Company, Alexandria, Minn., was recognized in November 2003 for its achievements as a MNSTAR work site. MNSTAR is a Minnesota Occupational Safety and Health Administration program that recognizes companies where managers and employees work together to develop safety and health management systems that go beyond basic compliance with all applicable OSHA standards and result in immediate and long-tem prevention of job-related injuries and illnesses.
QRM member Rockwell Automation's Richland Center Packaged Control Products Division was featured in At Work for Wisconsin. The publication describes how Jitesh Mehta and Ernest Nicolas, students in the Manufacturing Systems Engineering capstone course, worked with William Molek, Rockwell's information technology manager, and shop floor control manager Scott Gilson to implement POLCA, a material control and replenishment system.
QRM Center Director Rajan Suri had guest columns in the Wisconsin State Journal on Sept. 15, 2003, and The Business Journal, Milwaukee, on Feb. 13, 2004. He was also interviewed in September 2003 for an article in Greater Madison In Business magazine that included information about the success Datex-Ohmeda (now part of GE Healthcare) has had with QRM. In addition, QRM was the topic of an in-depth article in OEM Off-Highway magazine in September 2003.
Suri also had columns in the Wisconsin Engineer Journal and Illinois Engineer Journal, distributed in February 2004. The Lean Manufacturing Advisor newsletter featured POLCA in a front-page article in its March edition. The UW-Madison College of Engineering Perspectives winter 2004 newsletter featured the QRM Center in a story about our tenth anniversary.
WKOW Lead Story 9-25-03
QRM Center and Rajan Suri on Channel 27 News with member company Datex-Ohmeda
(Video Clip WMV 3.45Mb)
Congratulations to Datex-Ohmeda (now part of GE Healthcare), named Manufacturer of the Year at a Feb. 27, 2002, ceremony in Milwaukee. The QRM member and producer of anesthesia and critical-care equipment won in the medium-size business category for cutting lead time on its anesthesia machines from about six weeks to just days. The annual competition is sponsored by Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, Virchow Krause & Co. of Madison, and Michael Best & Friedrich of Milwaukee.