Continuous process improvement is more critical than ever for manufacturers to become lean. One key area of focus is on the flow of product from supplier to customer. Naturally, any process that impedes the smooth flow of product is a source of additional cost to the company. Download this white paper now and learn about 3 key areas to reduce costs and improve product flow from quote to cash.

Read this complimentary Aberdeen Group report, ERP in Manufacturing 2012: The Evolving ERP Strategy, now to learn more about best-in-class manufacturing approaches to ERP strategy.

Today, 92% of Manufacturers have implemented ERP. Still, recent data finds that a successful ERP implementation goes well beyond just putting it into place. ERP, and the organization itself, should be constantly moving forward. Successful manufacturers tailor ERP in reaction to business change and needs including adding new functionality or mobile access.

For a limited time, access this 7th annual Aberdeen benchmark, based on over 170 survey respondents in manufacturing. This report explores Best-in-Class approaches to manufacturers’ evolving ERP strategy and performance to:
•    Uncover untapped efficiencies
•    Reduce costs
•    Provide visibility to managers to aid in informed decision making

Variable focus liquid lens technology can simplify installation, setup and maintenance by eliminating the need to manually touch the lens. It is also ideal for applications with reading distances that change from part to part or during part changeover.

Relative to other autofocus mechanisms, the liquid lens has extremely fast response times and provides the ability to focus over a larger range of working distances than standard fixed-focus lenses. Cognex was the first company to release this new technology integrated into both DataMan® industrial fixed-mount ID readers and DataMan industrial handheld ID readers.

Cognex's new Expert Guide: Direct Part Mark (DPM) Considerations for Automated Manufacturing Lines can help you understand your DPM applications:

1. Code Selection
2. Marking Processes and Placement
3. Data Encoding and Readability
4. Selecting a Solution

Cognex vision technology helps automotive companies improve their manufacturing quality and performance by:

• inspecting parts,
• verifying assembly,
• guiding robots,
• tracking and capturing barcode information,
• and more!!

Cognex products are used by many of the world’s top automotive manufacturers, suppliers, and machine builders to ensure that the products that are being delivered match the stringent quality requirements of the automotive industry.

Find out how machine vision technology can help you in the Automotive Applications Guide

Visual Workplace would like to offer you the tools that support a visually organized, efficienct and safe workplace.

Receive samples that can be used in your facility along with our 5S Facilitator's Guide and a DVD containing a short video that shows the Sign Shop in action and how it can benefit your facility.

Signs and visuals in your facility identify and instruct ongoing improvements to your processes and safety programs. Have you considered the opportunity for improved efficiency and cost-reduction in the tools and resources you use to generate these signs and visuals? Consider these questions:

• Do you use printers, laminators or label-makers to create communications or signs in your facility? Are you satisfied with the quality and are they effective?
• Do you purchase signs for safety, operations, or continuous improvement from an outside supplier? Are you satisfied with the cost and lead-time of these signs?
• Could your lean and safety programs be improved with different or additional signs and visuals?
• Do you need to reduce cost and lead time, and/or improve the quality of your signs?

If you believe there is always room for improvement, complete the fields below and see how you can quickly and easily create professional and customized visuals — faster and at a savings up to 75% when compared to purchasing similar options from outside vendors.

Grounding and shielding is an often misunderstood process. It is common to hear quotes ranging from "it's just black art!" to "the rules change all the time!" and "there's no way to understand it!" These statements are often repeated but not true.  There is a process, it hasn't changed, and the more one knows about coupling mechanisms the more one will see that it's sound engineering principals.

Linear actuation plays a critical role in a wide range of products and processes in factory automation, packaging, medical devices, and many other fields. Linear actuators are commonly divided into two main types: fluid power actuators that operate on differential pressure and electromechanical actuators driven by an electric motor. The type of actuator used plays a critical role in the machine’s performance, initial cost and operating costs. This article will look at the pros and cons of each of the main types of linear actuators with the goal of providing a general guide for their selection and application.

What are the prime causes of linear bearing wear and failure? How can you detect them and prevent them? The answers can save you tens of thousands of dollars.

Replace a single $25 linear bearing now, save thousands later in costly unplanned downtime. This free white paper explains costly bearing failure and how you can avoid it.

Evaluate Your Visual Factory, Lean Teams, Changeover Process and Pull Systems

This PDF is designed to give the user an at-a-glance look at their current processes and evaluate them against lean processes. By recognizing processes that are not efficient, you and your team can start to develop strategies that will reduce waste and create the ability to sustain improvements.

If you are just beginning your 5S/visual workplace journey or are well on your way with your Lean implementation, this PDF guide will be a very useful tool providing:

• A 5S Project Checklist
• Concrete examples from a variety of workplace environments
• Acquaintance with effective 5S methods and materials to support your implementation
• Key points to assure you that these valuable tools create employee buy-in and ongoing participation

Evaluate your progress toward achieving a visually controlled workplace.

This whitepaper is offered in spreadsheet format and provides a comprehensive evaluation of the workplace. Categories that are covered in the evaluation include:

• Leadership
• Scoreboards
• Territories/Work Cells
• Work Instructions
• Process Control
• Inventory
• Safety

When you’ve completed the assessment, Visual Workplace will tabulate your results and provide you with recommendations that will identify your next steps toward achieving a visual workplace.

Tips & Shortcuts PDF discusses a true visual workplace and includes many valuable examples of what you can use to create effective visual controls in your facility.

The highest quality flexographic printing machines use direct drive rotary motors to control and synchronize the motion of the anilox roller and plate cylinder. Tom England, Kollmorgen's director of global product planning, explores the advantages in terms of machine assembly, maitenance, throughput, accuracy, operational costs and more. It's an exemplary case study on the benefits of direct drive for any machine that requires perfectly coordinated motion.

High-performance digital servo drives can increase machine throughput, support more sophisticated functionality and reduce commissioning time. In this white paper, Carroll Wontrop, Kollmorgen's senior system engineer, discusses the selection criteria for servo drives in various architectures and applications. Then he tours the AKD™ servo drive features that can simplify integration and ensure quality in virtually any application.

Compliance in transmission components tends to decouple the load's inertia from the servo system at higher frequencies. First-generation auto-tuners didn't take this "rubber band effect" into account, and even the best tuning specialists need lots of time and a little luck to get optimum performance. Kollmorgen's chief engineer of servo technology, George Ellis, explains how full-frequency auto-tuning can achieve perfect performance in a matter of minutes.

Field redesigns point the way to next-generation machines. This paper includes case studies showing how conversions from roller chain or gears to synchronous belt drives improved performance while saving maintenance and replacement costs.

Product design does not occur in a vacuum—it has a significant impact on manufacturing. In fact, 3D design carries even greater potential for streamlining production processes, especially when you take advantage of Design for Manufacturability tools and applications.

Continuous improvement separates great companies from mediocre ones. Innovative products, efficient manufacturing, and an energized staff are attributes of a company constantly looking at itself and asking, "How can we do this better?"

Businesses are turning more and more of their attention to corporate social responsibility and going green - reducing carbon emissions, conserving energy, and creating a more sustainable supply chain. This white paper presents how you can use the technology systems you already have to help your business promote corporate social responsibility.

These days, midsized companies looking to implement an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system have more options than ever, as big-name vendors move in to a space previously occupied by smaller vendors. But this does not necessarily mean that going with a big-name vendor will give your business the features it needs at a price that it can afford. Before you begin researching your ERP options, take a look at 10 strategies that can help shape your decision so that you make the right call.

This white paper addresses topics such as:
- SaaS vs. on premise deployments
- Open-source options
- Choosing an ERP solution specific to your industry

Register today to download this free white paper and learn more.

Until recently, ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) solutions were considered out of the question for all but the largest companies, due to the technology's complexity and large price tags. However, these days, midmarket companies have more choices than ever when it comes to ERP solutions, as competition between vendors has heated up. But how do you sort through all the offerings to find the solution that's best for your organization? This Buyer's Guide can help you answer the big (and small) questions so you can make an informed buying decision.

This white paper addresses topics such as:
- Midmarket ERP overview
- Basic and advanced features
- Average costs

Register today to download this white paper and learn more.

So your midmarket company has done its research and has settled on what you feel is the perfect ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) solution? Not so fast. Before you sign on the dotted line, consider these 12 key points to ensure you're making the best possible decision.

This white paper addresses topics such as:
- Developing success goals and metrics
- Foreign-language and currency support
- Training issues

Register today to download this white paper and learn more.

Lean manufacturing has been an evolving practice in manufacturing for nearly 20 years. It has enabled consumers to enjoy lower prices, higher quality and more involvement in the overall supply process. In this white paper, learn how to apply lean thinking to benefit all aspects of your business.

This whitepaper describes new enterprise applications for make-to-order and mixed mode manufacturers. These integrated, manufacturing enterprise applications are built on a services oriented architecture (SOA) and incorporate modern business rules and business intelligence to furnish flexibility, interoperability, and visibility. With these solutions, manufacturers can improve productivity, streamline the supply chain, reduce costs, achieve regulatory compliance—and thereby enhance customer service and increase their competitive advantage.

Most companies have an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system in place to handle their transactional processes, but such a system often is not enough to address critical global issues involving supply sources, manufacturing plants, service centers and markets. This is especially true for companies that installed their ERP systems before going global. This white paper talks about how globalization can have serious impacts on key business processes, and how ERP systems must evolve to address the needs of an international company.

An ERP system is your information backbone and reaches into all areas of your business and value-chain. Replacing it can open unlimited business opportunities. The cornerstone of this effort is finding the right partner and specialist. Your long-term business strategy will form the basis of the criteria for your selection of an ERP system replacement. Your ERP provider must be part of your vision. It is the duty of a software provider to help you get there by doing their part to make sure your next system will be your last ERP system replacement. Here are the 11 criteria that allow you to identify and select the solution that will meet these expectations.

The supply chain is, of course, the primary processing mechanism of every manufacturing company. But today, it is a multifaceted, multi-company, multinational structure that makes it the most complex management challenge found in any enterprise. Supply chain management (SCM), a critical part of any enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, no longer means just making sure that the right materials and resources move to the right place at the right time. This white paper will discuss how ERP can optimize your supply chain to satisfy customers, minimize costs and maximize profit.

Today's supply chain is the primary processing mechanism of every manufacturing company. Supply chain visibility is a tall order, but some of today's IT systems can meet it. This paper will describe the characteristics of a visible supply chain, explain why having one is important and discuss the technology resources that can deliver it to you.

The blurring of the line between manufacturing and supply chain logistics provides the opportunity to move efficient manufacturing management concepts to supply chain management. One manufacturing concept stands out as most successful: the concept of lean. This white paper describes lean manufacturing and how it can be applied to supply chain management.

Becoming lean has been a goal of most companies over the last few years. Why is lean so popular? Lean delivers what companies really need in today's highly competitive world: shorter lead times, improved quality, reduced cost, increased profit, improved productivity, and better customer service. Lean advocates have come to recognize that ERP and lean work together very well, each supporting and enabling the most important objectives of the other. This white paper outlines how the five lean principles are all supported and enhanced by comprehensive information control and the management tools that an end-to-end enterprise software suite delivers.