I have asked our Production Manager, Clay Lepley, to briefly outline our Manufacturing efforts as they relate to the following topics:
 
Lean, 5S and KanBan
For the past several years ASI has incorporated Lean concepts into our manufacturing processes.  More recently we have started to make more of an effort to have people think about these principals when evaluating an activity.

Lean Manufacturing Initiative:
In 1999 ASI began to embrace lean philosophies by moving to point of use storage.  Next came flow manufacturing and the one piece batch.  With the help of a group called DVIRC, Delaware Valley Industrial Resource Center, ASI converted its highest volume production line from a batch set-up to flow and in the process doubled the lines daily output and reduced the floor space requirement by 50% without requiring additional labor or unachievable production goals.
Since then ASI has incorporated Flow techniques into all new product launches and continues to review and improve our manufacturing processes allowing for accurate assembly expectations and reducing the potential for problems.
 
5S:  (Sort - Set in Order - Shine - Standardize - Sustain)
During the spring of 2010 ASI conducted an extensive interviewing cycle looking for an assembly Supervisor with extensive training and experience in Lean Manufacturing practices.  We found Joel, who is Sensei trained in Lean and holds a Green Belt in Six Sigma.  With Joel, we have developed a sweeping philosophy to move through the shop "sweeping" the clutter out the door.  We expect to have this transformation completed by the end of the year.  Then with empowered teams we will sweep again to enforce the proper mind set throughout the plant, while improving the work environment for everyone.
 
KanBan:
ASI is starting to implement a pull system replenishment system with some of our key vendors.  This process will run in parallel with our Lean and 5S efforts to help make us a more agile and responsive manufacture.  This will be a primary focus for 2011 and something for future newsletters.  Note: Our Lean efforts have reduced our internal lead-time for manufacturing gears from 2 weeks to 5 hours.....further reducing inventory and costs associated with stocking components.