Written by Jeff Pacheco - Falcon Safety Group.
Prepare for the Visit
In preparation for an on-site OSHA inspection, OSHA compliance officers will research the workplace that they will visit, look over previous site inspections, take notes of any citations or specific areas of concern, industry operations, and various compliance that may apply to the workplace.
The defense manufacturing supply chain is critical to both the U.S. economy and national security. Support is needed for emerging technologies such as directed-energy weapons, hypersonics and cybersecurity, all of which are vital to national defense. While challenges exist, there have been remarkable successes due to the MEP National Network’sTM dedication to assist small and medium-sized manufacturers across the U.S. and in Puerto Rico. Manufacturers assisted have included those that supply a material, component or subsytem used in a defense or national security system. The Network continues to provide support in building a robust defense supply chain.
Part 7 of "The New Supply Chain" blog series by Mike Loquercio, Vice President of Supply Chain at Greenleaf Foods.
Whether your industry is “back in the game” or not, we have seen several starts and stops across the overall playing field, especially the food and beverage markets given COVID19 impacts; your supply chain is different!
This is an original article by Ken Voytek, Chief Economist at NIST MEP.
I’ve made it my personal crusade to keep a focus on the fundamental importance of productivity to manufacturers, to the MEP Program, to the MEP Centers that do the daily work of helping small manufacturers boost their performance. It may seem strange to read a post about productivity given the current environment, but it remains important to both national economic and business success. Indeed, productivity will be even more critical as we recover from the current health and economic crisis. Currently, there is significant excess capacity of both capital and labor that we can reengage to help the economy grow faster and return to full employment and capacity utilization of plants as equipment is more fully used. In his 2004 book The Power of Productivity, William Lewis argues the real solution is not necessarily more capital or working smarter (although these things certainly help), but rather how a company organizes and deploys its capital and labor.
Every quarter, around 100 IMEC clients have the chance to tell IMEC and our national partners terrific stories about the improvements made through their collaboration with IMEC in projects and events. Through a third-party administered survey, we ask clients to self-report accumulated impacts of cost savings, new investments, new or retained sales and new or retained employment from activities or projects completed with IMEC in the last year.
Written by Celia Paulsen, NIST.
Artificial intelligence (AI)-powered robots, 3D printing, the Internet of Things (IoT)...there’s a whole world of advanced manufacturing technology and innovation just waiting for small and medium-sized manufacturers (SMMs) who want to step up their digital game. Unfortunately, manufacturing digitization can present some fundamental challenges, like added cybersecurity risk.
The CDC has defined general guidelines that will help prevent the spread of COVID-19. To help share these with a larger audience, our friends at Argo Translation created an infographic that demonstrates the guidelines in 14 languages:
Written by Larry Bouvier, Vice President of Fuss & O'Neill Manufacturing Solutions.
As businesses and facilities begin to reopen, employee health and safety are paramount. Cleaning, proper distancing, and personal protective equipment have always been important safety precautions, but are now more important than ever. But it is important to remember that while employees are returning to work, facilities’ support equipment itself also needs to be brought back to work in a safe and thoughtful manner. An unused sink drain may weep noxious odors, cooling fans may have burnt out, and security gates might balk at opening easily. The health and safety of your building, and the systems that make it habitable, is important to the health and safety, not to mention comfort, of your employees. Prior to opening a facility, managers need to create checklists and inspect and test all machinery.
While it's impossible to pinpoint the timing of an economic pullback or recession, it is possible to take steps to help protect your business during such an event, as well as create ongoing resilience and prepare for the upswing!
Part 6 of "The New Supply Chain" blog series by Mike Loquercio, Vice President of Supply Chain at Greenleaf Foods.
We are starting to see some signs of the economy opening up and supply chains getting some “swings in the cage” before the full season begins. In many industries, COVID19 demand has stretched the supply chain beyond any reasonable expectations and yet we have found creative ways to make it work. In other industries, we have been operating with diminished needs and looking for ways to repurpose and pivot to support the health care industry.
