Several other companies around the state are at various stages of meeting the ISO 9000 standards through our Strategic Business Initiative. By the time this article goes to print, Mineral Fabrication already will have made its first delivery on the project. Our namesake, United States Senator Robert C. Byrd, applauded this effort. Third, consider a process that is highlighted in this publication Lean Manufacturing. Mass production concentrates on reducing defects to a tolerable level.
Lean production seeks to eliminate all defects.
It also is more economical. Lean manufacturing rejects the old idea of making things in huge batches, which requires holding large buffer stocks of materials and components between each stage of the production process. Now, each act performed in the factory is, as it were, done on demand. Lean Manufacturing is a philosophy that adapts to each operation. Just as companies will need quality management system certification to be at their most competitive in the 21 st century, manufacturers also need to look increasingly at how to do what they do more efficiently and still maintain quality.