Holistic Manufacturing™ is a revolutionary approach that focuses on the 'entire' manufacturing process, bringing together both technology and human systems in order to identify and reduce production variability. The result for manufacturing companies: guaranteed process improvements that yield substantial cost savings and increased profits at the bottom-line!

How Does Holistic Manufacturing™ Work?
The essence of Holistic Manufacturing™ is to find those key variations in the manufacturing process that, if reduced, would yield the greatest potential for an increase in output or efficiency. HMC's scientific, flexible approach first characterizes process variability and then identifies the improvement opportunities. This helps focus resources on those areas most likely to produce the largest return.

• First, we gather data to surface key factors influencing performance.
• We establish the links between product variety, process variables and productivity outcomes and study these links in detail.
• We look at the range of performance after removing exceptions to quantify the improvement opportunity and confirm how much variability is controllable.

This gives us a solid understanding of which areas of the process need correcting and which are the highest-leverage opportunities.

We organize teams that include client staff as well as HMC consultants to focus on each of the areas identified in the diagnostic analysis. The teams meet regularly to analyze information, make decisions, implement action plans and monitor progress. HMC provides the necessary Holistic Tools, including:

• Human Systems services
• Maintenance Organization
• Product Wheel scheduling
• Dynamic Operating procedures and
• Communication Boards

Throughout the project, these teams are trained in the Holistic philosophy with the aim that they continue meeting - and improving - long after HMC has gone.

We also offer the Holistic Data System, a proprietary software product for gathering and analyzing real-time shop-floor production data.

Examples of Results
We have been applying our approach globally since 1995 and have achieved amazing results for our clients. Below we have listed a sampling of our achievements:

• A 56% increase in output from PET line of a bottling plant in South America.
• A 30% increase in output for a bottling line in Europe with an increase in the number of line changeovers, later increased to 50% by the company themselves through continuous improvement.
• A doubling of output for a food equipment manufacturer in 6 months with lower lead times (8 weeks down to 1), 41% less overtime, and reduced set-up time.
• A 6 fold reduction in raw material losses for a tobacco manufacturer in Argentina
• A 44% increase in average monthly cigarette output for a US Consumer Goods manufacturer in just 2 months!

"The HMC project was undoubtedly a success! We have already achieved the outputs we anticipated and the results have been sustained long-term. I believe this project was so successful because HMC understood the importance of communication between the people at all levels — this is crucial when implementing major changes that are expected to last. "

— Martin T., Production Director, Major European Brewery

To learn more about HMC clients that have successfully employed these strategies and are enjoying sustainable results, click here.

To contact an HMC consultant to set-up a workshop for your company, click here.

For the rest of the Holistic Manufacturing™ story, download the Holistic Manfacturing.pdf

See Hollistic Management Consulting's Profile on Experts.com.

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