On his first day as Vermont Castings new general manager, Fred Howe said an employee walked up to him and announced, "I have this idea to shorten the time it takes for this job.” An eight-hour process became a 25-minute one. Such employee involvement is a big reason why Castings' lean effort is winning work back from China.

Jamie Swan, production manager at Duraweld Ltd. in Scarborough, England, explains how the plant launched a lean effort in 2006 and reports on the results.  The company makes specialty plastic stationery-protection products. (The Binding Edge)

Having problems implementing pull systems, continuous flow, or more advanced lean tools? It's probably time to get back to basics -- the basic stability of your equipment.

Higher overseas costs and domestic demand for custom products delivered quickly have led manufacturers to apply lean principles to keep production in the U.S. In fact, producers of complicated industrial goods may shift out-sourced production back to the U.S. However, the production of simple, high-volume consumer products probably won't return. One example of this trend is the Epson plant in Hillsboro, OR.  After losing the printer business to China and Indonesia, plant management applied lean principles to offset the lower labor costs in Asia. The plant's defect rate plunged to 300 per million and cartridges produced per employee increased about 40%.  Production is up 200% percent from 2001 levels. Another example is Hayward Pool products of Elizabeth, NJ, which adopted lean and six sigma methods to keep most of its production in the U.S. even though a competitor from China entered its market. The story cites six factors causing a reversal in off-shoring manufacturing. (Published online by Manufacturing.net.)