Continuous Improvement Mindset in Precision Machining

Posted on August 15, 2023 by Boston Centerless

There is one certainty in manufacturing and that is change. While change comes in a variety of forms, every precision machining shop can count on change and must be able to adapt in order to remain competitive. Shops can never get too comfortable or they risk becoming complacent. A business that is not growing and evolving over time is likely a business that is stagnant and dying. This is why a continuous improvement approach is vital to the health of manufacturing and precision machining.

At Boston Centerless, continuous improvement is embedded in our culture. As a recognized industry leader in Lean Manufacturing, we often open our facilities to other companies interested in maximizing their continuous improvement efforts and benchmarking our lean initiatives. Our lean culture isn’t a one-time project – it is a continuous improvement mindset that permeates our entire business.

Why is a Continuous Improvement Culture So Critical?

Successful companies are never satisfied and always have their eye on the next innovation and next performance level. Even during the “good times,” these manufacturers are busy identifying how to make things even better. With the right mindset, continuous improvement becomes engrained in the company culture and delivers several critical advantages:

Large Productivity Gains: incremental improvements that optimize operations and minimize waste typically yield more efficient equipment and labor utilization. This leads to huge productivity gains that positively impact speed to market, delivery timing, and customer satisfaction.
Enhanced Quality: one of the biggest benefits of continuous improvement is more streamlined processes that produce higher quality products. When downtime and waste are eliminated and opportunities for error are minimized, precision machining shops attain higher levels of efficiency and quality.
Cost Savings: productivity gains and improved product quality lead to cost reductions. When it comes to precision machining, operations personnel are often a source of great improvement ideas that result in efficiency gains to further lower costs.

Continuous Improvement at Boston Centerless

At Boston Centerless, we focus on continuous improvement initiatives and lean manufacturing – practices that result in tighter quality control, saving OEMs time and money. We pride ourselves on the utilization of cutting-edge technologies for our customers. Our team promotes a continuous improvement mindset, and we never rest when it comes to quality. It is this commitment that has positioned Boston Centerless as a strategic supplier to leading companies worldwide. Below are 4 key areas where we demonstrate a continuous improvement mindset:

Facilities: at Boston Centerless we are committed to continuous capital investment in order to provide our customers with cutting-edge technology. Our equipment has state-of-the-art controls driven by top of the line software. With a new plant recently opened in Fort Wayne, IN we have increased manufacturing and distribution capacity substantially with an additional 16,000 square feet and state-of-the-art equipment. The central location of this facility was strategically selected, enabling our team to readily access logistics channels across the Midwest resulting in shorter lead times. Our Fort Wayne location also allows more on-demand production and Just-in-Time(JIT) deliveries for our customers. The Fort Wayne plant is just one example of our commitment to continuous improvement and serving our customers today – and tomorrow.
Technologies: with 65 years of experience, Boston Centerless has earned a global reputation as a leader in precision machining. We are dedicated to procuring and utilizing the most advanced technology. As your machining partner, we continually upgrade our suite of technologies in order to drive efficiency and quality on our shop floor. In addition to technology, we also work to continuously improve the range of services we offer our customers. For example, we offer various in-house material testing and validation services, reducing the lead times and cost for our customers. Our in-house services allow our customers to avoid the time and expense typically associated with shipping bars to a third party. We are continually improving and expanding our in-house services, enabling Boston Centerless to truly be a one-stop shop for our customers.
People: as a precision machining company, Boston Centerless knows that people are our greatest asset. We understand that a continuous improvement culture must be embedded in every level of our business. We invest in our personnel through continuing education and cross training. We believe investing in our people makes good business sense so we hire with the long-term in mind.
Integration: we are an integrated precision machining company which means we can manage multiple steps along the supply chain including material acquisition, grinding, in-house testing and validation, and VMI programs – among others. In line with lean principles, integrated machine shops offer significant value for OEMs such as streamlining the manufacturing timeline, reducing lead times, improving the consistency and reliability of the final product, and minimizing the number of suppliers involved in the supply chain. All of these steps improve efficiency and reduce risk - saving our customers time, resources, and money.

Would your team benefit from the precision machining and value-added services at Boston Centerless?

Contact our team today to learn why our customers rely on us as their one-stop shop for precision machining.

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What Does Continuous Improvement Look Like?

The concept of continuous improvement is intertwined with lean manufacturing and seeks to identify and implement incremental improvements to an existing production process. Similar to lean practices, the goal of a continuous improvement approach is to remove waste and add value to operations through optimization across all levels of the organization – empowering personnel to actively engage in the improvement process.

There are various methodologies that can be used to implement the concept of continuous improvement across an organization. One example is PDCA: Plan, Do, Check and Act. This technique can be applied to precision machining or any other manufacturing sector. Below is a short summary and details what a continuous improvement approach generally looks like in manufacturing.

Plan: this step involves the identification of potential areas of improvement as well as brainstorming ideas to solve the problem. This is where personnel involvement can really pay dividends as employees are able to identify the “pain points” in their specific work processes as well as suggest cost-effective resolutions. For each improvement, you need to assess the cost-to-benefit ratio of any potential solutions and ensure key stakeholders are aligned with the path forward. In some cases, a trial or pilot solution may be the best next step.
Do: this is where the plan above is implemented to test its validity. For each improvement, you will need to collect ample data to understand the process status before and after the improvements were implemented.
Check: data from the prior step is evaluated to determine if the process improvement was effective and if further improvements need to be made to reach full success. Continuous improvements are sometimes iterative and require teams to work through the PDCA steps more than once in order to achieve success.
Act: this step fully implements the plan above and establishes current operations as the new baseline for the production process – against which future improvements will be assessed.

About Boston Centerless

Boston Centerless provides solutions that enhance our customers' manufacturing processes. With 65 years of experience with precision grinding, we grind the tightest tolerances in the industry. We have proven experience with an extensive range of materials, and our manufacturing solutions include:

Contact us today at (781) 994-5000 to see how we can help with your next precision bar material project, or request a quote here.

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