Various types of lean manufacturing waste include material waste, avoidable down time, and time wasted through unproductive activities. Overproduction is another form of waste. Other types of waste may arise from inaccurate matching of resources to tasks, or performing unnecessary motions in

Bill of lading tracking is used to provide the current status of shipments sent by ship, freight train, air and ground transportation. Companies and individuals use tracking systems to verify whether a shipment has reached its intended recipient or to retrieve estimated time of arrivals. Mos

Advanced process control (APC) is the application of a broad range of disciplines and technologies to either refine process control or address a specific issue associated with a process. Interdisciplinary in nature, APC draws knowledge in its application from statistics, decision theory, eng

Process control is a method of analyzing data in various settings to look at the differences between what is happening in the present and what occurred in the past. When choosing process control books, it is important to look for methods of analysis that are useful in your field and the ways

A weld flange is a device used to attach two pieces of pipe in a bolt-together fashion. Unlike a flat flange that is, as the name implies, a flat, steel flange that can be welded to a pipe, the weld flange has a tapered, cone-like apparatus machined into the pipe side of the flange. This tap

Laminated object manufacturing (LOM) is a technique companies can use to produce rapid prototypes of products in development. The result is not as accurate and durable as some prototypes, but can be well suited for certain applications. With rapid prototypes, the goal is often to quickly cre

A drying oven is a device for applying low heat over a long time to a variety of objects for a variety of purposes. Some kitchen ovens come with an option for one. This allows an appliance primarily for cooking to be used for drying flowers, as well as food dehydration to extend shelf life.

Electronics contract manufacturing (ECM), also known as electronic manufacturing services (EMS), is an overall term for a variety of services a company can provide in the field of electronic components. Typical offerings can run from the creation of a product to preparation for final deliver

A cleko, or cleco as they are commonly spelled, is a type of fastener that is used to temporarily fasten multiple sheets of aluminum or steel together while they are being test-fitted into position. Consisting of a steel body surrounding a spring and plunger-type mechanism along with step-lo

Stock removal is a term that is generally used to describe the action of removing some amount of material from a workpiece. There are a number of different ways to go about this process, including common approaches like milling, drilling, grinding, filling and planing. The choice of how to g

Industry statistics are compilations of data taken from numerous companies. Companies are grouped into defined industries by a primary product or activity, such as snack food manufacturing or medical services. The collected data is used to represent an average trend for each industry in a nu

Precision machinery needs precision-manufactured parts. When a machine requires metal tubing, the tube may not need to be the same diameter throughout the entire length. Using a metal forging process called tube swaging, a tube can be custom designed so that its diameter is altered to meet t

Selective soldering is one of the processes used in the construction of various electronic assemblies, usually circuit boards. Typically, the process involves the soldering of specific electronic components onto a printed circuit board while leaving other areas of the board unaffected. This

Tube bending is a process used to reshape tubing or piping into a certain shape or design. This process works on metal, alloy, aluminum, titanium, and steel. There are several possible processes that can be used in tube bending: press bending, rotary bending, heat induction, and roll bending

A plasma etcher is a device that uses plasma to create the circuit pathways needed by semiconductor integrated circuits. The plasma etcher does this by emitting a precisely aimed jet of plasma onto a silicon wafer. When the plasma and the wafer come into contact with one another, a chemical

A strip mill is a type of steel mill invented in the early 1900s. Strip mills and their new technology produced larger sheets of steel at lower costs, revolutionizing the industry and the future of steel. With increased production at lower costs, steel and tin could be used for many more pro

Electropolishing is a process that uses an electric charge to finish or remove damage from a metal object. Its similar to electroplating, but is used to remove material from metal rather than adding it. This process may be used to polish metal, remove surface finishes, or prep the material f

In injecting molding processes, injection tooling consists of the metal mold and fixtures into which a material, such plastic, rubber or metal, is injected to produce parts. This tooling allows parts to be mass-produced at a relatively inexpensive per part cost. These parts are used in many

Shielded metal arc welding, also referred to as stick welding, uses a two-part electrode to produce a structurally sound weld on multiple pieces of metal. The internal core of a stick electrode contains a metal alloy designed to weld a base metal of the same composition. A silicon-based flux

Transfer printing is a method of moving a premade image from one location to another. This process was originally used to move images from metal or ceramic plates to pottery, while newer forms use specialty paper and will transfer to nearly anything. The basic process has ink applied to a sp