Quick Response Manufacturing (QRM) was invented by Rajan Suri in the 1990s. The primary goal is relentless reduction of lead time (internal process flow times). Thus, application of these concepts enables a company to compete on speed, flexibility, and agility.
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U.S. Manufacturers Can Reshore Production Without Increasing Costs
May 2022 Over the last 20 years U.S. manufacturers have seen large numbers of jobs being lost while production has been “outsourced” to Low-Cost Countries (LCCs). Even though much lip service has been given to …
Practical Tips to Create Spare Capacity and Slash Your Lead Times
January 2022 Intuitively, we all know that lead times increase if you receive more orders. To understand the magnitude of this effect, we need to look at the utilization level. The utilization level is the …
How to Develop a Strong Sense of Ownership in QRM Cells
January 2021 I recently read a paper about how increased psychological ownership of a public good (like a lake or a park) increases the likelihood of engaging in stewardship behavior for that good.1 Psychological ownership …
Can the OEE Metric Be Used with QRM?
September 2020 OEE stands for Overall Equipment Effectiveness. It is a popular metric associated with Lean Manufacturing, so you may be wondering whether it can be utilized with Quick Response Manufacturing (QRM) or other manufacturing …
Why is Job Rotation Important for QRM?
May 2020 Cross-training is a core element of Quick Response Manufacturing (QRM) cells in both production and office areas. To provide flexibility as product mix changes and to keep processes moving, it is necessary to …
QRM From an Employee’s Perspective, or WIIFM?
January 2020 Prior to implementing Quick Response Manufacturing (QRM) cells, management should spend some time preparing answers to the WIIFM question. So, what exactly is this “WIIFM?” WIIFM stands for “What’s in it for me?” …
Understanding the Queuing Guy’s Definition of Utilization
November 2019 It is a long-standing tradition in manufacturing to try to get machines and people to work 100% of the available production time. If you don’t, you are not getting the maximum benefit from …