
Business Management - Productivity/Process Improvement

We are at an inflection point like we’ve never seen before. Lessons learned from previous national crises — such as September 11 and the Great Recession — will be well-served as companies emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic. But will that be enough to successfully rebound to pre-pandemic business levels?
Third-generation printer Austin Meissner, sales and sourcing manager at Color Ink, says that the future of technology is one of the things that excites him most about the industry. A drive to keep learning and evolving is what motivates Meissner to help take his company to the next level.
Luminer has added a new extended content label production line at its manufacturing facility in Lakewood, N.J. The seven-figure investment allows Luminer to accommodate its growing extended content label business, providing a doubling of Luminer’s ECL manufacturing capacity.
C-P Flexible Packaging is introducing virtual press check capabilities, allowing customers in critical infrastructure industries to conduct press checks and approve graphics remotely. Manufacturers can conduct press checks remotely while complying with the guidelines of the CDC to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Gino Wickman’s book "Traction: Get A Grip On Your Business" lays out a system to optimize people, processes, execution, management, and communication called the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS). Wickman’s EOS has six essential components.
During assessments of printing companies seeking feedback on the state of quality in their businesses, I’ve learned there are three kinds of work activities that can be observed. These activities can be broken down as "A work," "B work," and "C work."
As the importance of efficiency and automation increases throughout the packaging industry, it has become important for companies to benchmark their digital maturity. Jan De Roeck, Esko's director of marketing, industry relations & strategy, spoke with Packaging Impressions about the company's new self assessment tool, which provides printers and converters with a snapshot of their digital maturity progress.
In the book Toyota Culture, the authors reveal how Toyota selects, develops, and motivates people to commit to the goal of building high-quality products through a process called the Toyota Production System. Understanding the concept could be key to creating a work environment that helps a company improve faster than its competition.
Esko has introduced a strategic model to guide individual businesses to digital maturity. The Digital Maturity Model for Packaging Suppliers program is designed to equip businesses to improve productivity, efficiency, and overall profitability through a complete digital transformation.
The Japanese word “kaizen” when translated into English means “to change for the good,” or to improve. The concept of continuous improvement is well known in our industry and practiced to some extent by most companies. The challenge is to find a way of accelerating your rate of improvement to capture the advantages in quality, time, and costs it brings.