engineeringisawesome:

Evans Wadongo: MwangaBora Lamp

In 2004 at the tender age of 19, Evans Wadongo took it upon himself to create an alternative to the unhealthy and often dangerous kerosene lamps and firelights used by villages like his in rural Africa. The enterprising Kenyan engineer developed the MwangaBora lamp, a fume-less light source made of 50% recycled materials that has since been widely distributed throughout the countrysides of Kenya and Malawi. To further the production and distribution of such lamps, NYC’s Friedman Benda gallery is hosting a three-day charitable selling exhibition—designed by fashion designerReed Krakoff—showing an edition of 1,000 solar lamps designed entirely by Wadongo.

Cool Hunting

“Necessity is the mother of Invention” - Plato

There is a great blog post on “the thINKing canvas” about how to find customers for your business.

This is a great example of one way to create and use a visual strategic plan.

Kaizen Training: ADVANTAGES OF LEAN MANAGEMENT

kaizen-training:

The manufacturing process endeavors to get rid of every waste. This helps eliminate unnecessary costs, processes, and tools. Nutshell, the lean manufacturers scrutinize the manufacturing processes and see whether they can eliminate any unnecessary movement.

To begin with, the lean…

Lean means getting rid of waste but some companies take it to mean reduce production workers. The fact is it should be about getting rid of waste that doesn’t add value to the product or service being delivered to  your customers. In my experience getting rid of layers of management between the factory and the person with the authority and responsibility to the customer to deliver the best product at the right price for the company and the customer.

americanmanufacturing:

Our favorite topic - Made in the USA - took the cover of TIME magazine. The article makes for a great weekend read!

Interesting excerpt:

Labor statistics actually shortchange the importance of manufacturing because they mainly count jobs inside factories, and related positions in, say, Ford’s marketing department or at small business doing industrial design or creating software for big exporters don’t get tallied.

We summarized the story, and threw in some analysis.

RADIO: AAM's Scott Paul on Leslie Marshall Radio Show, April 11, 2013 | Alliance for American Manufacturing

Alliance for American Manufacturing’s (AAM) President Scott Paul explains we’re seeing small growth in Manufacturing hiring. Listen to the show on https://soundcloud.com/keep-it-made-in-america/aams-scott-paul-on-leslie.

Kaizen Training: How taking lean manufacturing courses helps your business, Part 2#2

kaizen-training:

How Lean Manufacturing Training Courses Can Help Your Business

It is very important for everyone in your organization to get lean training, because the concept has to be applied to the entire business processes. This way, everyone can understand the lean principles and identify how it can help…

inkfactorystudio:

We visualized this video explaining the amazing-ness of graphene!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtM6XJlynkk

Graphene - The Super Supercapacitor

Kaizen Training: The attributes of a good Gemba Walk, Part 1#2

kaizen-training:

Gemba Walk is a powerful tool that managers use as a part of their overall approach when implementing the techniques and concepts of Lean principles. With this tool, they can get to build good relationship with workers and gain firsthand knowledge of the different practices at the workplace….

americanmanufacturing:

Next time you’re in the market for new jeans, we have an American-made suggestion: the Jeans Project.

Not only are these jeans manufactured in Los Angeles, but they give back to the community. According to the Jeans Project’s website: “For every pair of jeans sold, $10 will be donated to the Dream Center recovery programs and help to make a difference in someone’s life.”

Churches in the Los Angeles area have been showcasing the Jeans Project’s garments, however, the jeans are available to purchase online also.

Interested in learning more about this project and the organization it supports? Here’s a short video that explains it.

Brands that give back. I love it when I see companies, products and communities come together