BUSINESS SKILLS

Lean Gold Certification Emerges

Jeff Lytle has some unique bragging rights. He entered manufacturing-excellence record books by recently receiving the first-ever Lean Gold Certification.

That achievement capped an almost two-year journey for the Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt with Omnova Solutions Inc. (www.omnova.com), a Fairlawn, Ohio-based maker of commercial wallcoverings, upholstery fabrics, laminates and other polymer products.

His Gold Certification, which focuses on strategic transformation of the enterprise, is the highest level of Lean Certification. This peer-reviewed recognition comes through the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME, www.sme.org), at whose Web site the certification’s requirements can be found, as well as the Association for Manufacturing Excellence (www.ame.org) and the Shingo Prize for Excellence in Manufacturing (www.shingoprize.org).

Gold seekers must already possess those organization’s Lean Bronze and Silver Certifications. Once theyıve applied for Lean Gold, the hopefuls get a comprehensive kit that helps them prepare for pursuit of the Gold. This will require them to substantiate appropriate levels of education, knowledge, experience and mentoring before taking a final exam... Read more

» IT SKILLS: Real-Time Data Integration -
ILS Technology Inc. (www.ilstechnology.com), of Boca Raton, Fla., leverages 25 years of experience in device-and-automation-to-enterprise connectivity through its deviceWise platform.

That takes intelligent data from devices and sends it to any point within an enterprise where the information is needed, says John Keever, executive vice president and chief technology officer. This communication is enabled by native drivers, message-queuing systems, mail and maintenance systems, and generic database interfaces, he adds... Read more

» CONTROL SYSTEM SKILLS: Making Workhorses Efficient -
Motors consume about 50 percent of electricity in the United States and more than 67 percent of electricity used by industry, states R. Neal Elliott, industry program director with the Washington, D.C.-based American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE, www.aceee.org).

With these industrial workhorses having an energy hunger that huge, it makes sense for companies to investigate National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA, www.nema.org) Premium energy-efficiency motors. They’re available in most any configuration, any kind of enclosure or special mountings, says John Malinowski. Among others, those include wash-down duty for food processing, C-face, D-flange and explosion-proof, explains this product manager for AC/DC motors at industrial-motor manufacturer Baldor Electric Co. (www.baldor.com), Ft. Smith, Ark... Read more

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Assembly Technology Expo

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