Tag Archives: Principles

Lean Manufacturing Principles

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Lean manufacturing is one of the most widely utilized business improvement methodologies.There are hundreds of consultants and schools teaching lean manufacturing principles.

The problem with many courses teaching lean manufacturing is the lack of real world experience of the instructor.Many have limited experience applying the principles, nor the interpersonal skills to influence change.

Lean manufacturing is not nearly as structured as six sigma or other continuous improvement initiatives.There is no standard approach to implementation or third party certifying body such as ISO.

Lean manufacturing consists of many different “tools”.The best courses teach the lean manufacturing principles as well as how and when to use the tools.

Some companies have heard that lean manufacturing implementation will reduce their waste and costs, and decide to just start implementing.They often start using one tool at a time until the boss declares it’s done.

Worse yet, some companies find a consultant that knows 5S and little else.When the consultant leaves, the clean and organized business eventually realizes they are clean, organized, and still full of waste.

The correct approach to implementing lean manufacturing begins with an analysis of the businesses needs, opportunities, and challenges.Once these opportunities are identified, the tools are used which will solve the issues.These tools might be lean manufacturing or six sigma tools.It simply wouldn’t be prudent to limit the success of a lean initiative to exclude any tool if it was known to solve the problem at hand.

In other words, the problems identify the tools rather than the tools being force into the organization.

Some of the lean manufacturing tools are 5S (Sort-Set in Order-Shine-Standardize-Sustain), value stream mapping, kanban, takt time, continuous flow, cellular manufacturing, TPM (total productive maintenance), SMED (single minute exchange of die), OEE (overall equipment effectiveness), line balancing, standardized operations,

7 wastes (muda), error proofing,kaizen, and root cause problem solving.

There are a few tools that can and should be used with any lean manufacturing initiative.The 5S tool is a powerful workplace organization tool.This tool makes sense in any business.It would be hard to find an organization where order and organization didn’t make sense.

Root cause problem solving tools should be used in every lean manufacturing implementation.These tools vary based on the problem.Some of the more common are Cause and Effects Analysis,5 Why Analysis, 8D method, CT trees, Process Mapping, and affinity diagrams.

Value stream mapping is another useful tool to determine where value is added and the areas of non-value added (muda).The value stream map depicts the flow of product and information on paper.Information such as inventory, distance, and bottlenecks are highlighted.Once the value stream map is completed, opportunities for improvement become obvious.

Tools such as line balancing, SMED, takt time, and OEE should be used to solve specific business opportunities.For example, SMED (single minute exchange of die) is a tool that is used to reduce machinery or process setup times.This tool is a lot more useful in businesses that run smaller order quantities and changeover often.OEE is an excellent tool to determine why a machine or process is not producing at world class levels.Once the reasons (opportunities) are known,they can be improved.

Kaizen (Japanese word meaning continuous improvement) is a very powerful improvement tool.It is basically a rapid (3-5 days) improvement method utilizing a cross-functional team to solve a business problem.A kaizen event team will use many other lean tools to help solve the problem.

Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) is an excellent tool to improve maintenance, which in turn helps improve all aspects of a manufacturing business, including OEE, setup times, downtime, costs, and profitability.TPM is based on having operators involved in the maintenance of their equipment.The operators often complete their own preventive maintenance, while other initiatives simply have them highly involved.Although TPM is a great tool, it wouldn’t be as useful in a service organization without equipment.

Utilize lean manufacturing principles to identify and solve business issues and the financial impact will justify their use.If the tools are made to “fit” the organization, the result will be chaos, disruption, low morale, and financial loss.

Carl Wright is an industrial engineer, ASQ Six Sigma Black Belt, and Master Black Belt. Carl is involved with the lean manufacturing implementation organization http://www.1stcourses.com

Principles of Performance Management

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The origins of Human Performance Systems Analysis can be traced from the late 1950′s and early 1960′s. These were times of activism and social reform in the United States. The field, initially called behavior technology, was a product of that spirit. In the early 1960′s a number of behavioral scientists and their graduate students made the decision to take what they had learned in their learning laboratories and apply those lessons to real world issues of learning and performance.

Business, markets and society have changed. But by and large, the principles of management, the methods and concepts of leadership and performance management have not. Rigid sales quotas, fixed performance targets, “pay for performance” and micro-management from the top are still widely established standards.

There is no lack of criticism of these traditional methods – both in practice and in the business literature. One thing is clear: we need a new understanding of motivation, performance, and responsibility.

The problems companies face today can’t be solved using the thinking and the processes that created them in the first place. A more productive approach is to define what the ‘right’ things are, and thus to examine root of the problem, rather than just treat the symptoms. To take this road, we need to put into question and possibly overcome an entire set of existing convictions.

Most of us work in organizations within the traditional model of command and control. This system may be budget control, target negotiation and subsequent top-down setting, employee evaluations, organizational diagrams, guidelines and policies, central departments, or employee questionnaires. These have been used for decades.

It is, therefore, often difficult to appreciate the amount of talent, time, and money that is wasted through these tools. Mutual trust, employee involvement, intrinsic motivation, and voluntary willingness to perform are being eroded. To question the traditions and to look for alternatives means pioneering work with a model beyond command and control.

Key Principles

1. Do a Performance Improvement Analysis

· First, measure the frequency of behavior (what the individual says or the physical movements made) and the outputs (the physical evidence of completed work produced by those behaviors) prior to any management change. This analysis can be done for just one behavior and output or for many by job category, department and organization. Through this analysis, one measures present performance, establishes standards, specifies why behavior is deficient, calculates the net economic value of improvement after the cost of solutions, and places them in priority order. The result of this analysis is identification of potentially high-payoff behaviors and outputs that can be improved – an important first step, because, surprisingly, key behaviors and outputs are often overlooked or undervalued in organizations.

· Then, introduce the procedures used in Performance Management and quantify the amount of change that occurs in specific time periods. Because the investment in changing behavior is often very low and the economic payoffs may be high, the potential high return on investment usually excites top management

2. Be Specific

· Describe and communicate desired performances and the standards for judging them in terms that are measurable, observable and objective. A description of the events that are signals prompting the response should be included. In training, coaching, measuring performance, feeding back performance data, conducting a performance appraisal, writing procedures, and delivering positive reinforcement, it is essential to be specific. Alas, if the language used is vague, the desired behavior may not occur.

3. Measure

· For any performance shown by the analysis to have sufficient economic value to an organization, measure the frequency of the performance against the desired standards. While most organizations measure some performance, there are, unfortunately, many key outputs and behaviors that are not measured.

4. Give Feedback

· Provide feedback on performance to the individual involved and to the individual’s manager, supervisor, or group leader, rapidly-preferably immediately-with sufficient information to allow for self-correction. Too often, feedback systems for many key behaviors and outputs are either absent or flawed.

5. Deliver Positive Consequences

· Deliver to each individual positive consequences immediately after completion of the performance of the desired behaviors and outputs. The frequency of an individual’s behavior is affected by the consequences that follow it. If the consequences are positive to that individual, the behavior tends to increase; if they are negative, the behavior tends to decrease. Consequences should be delivered for as long as the performance is desired, or until naturally occurring consequences are strong enough to support the behavior. How frequently you provide positive consequences is determined by how often the behavior occurs, the phase of behavior change you are in (causing the first new behavior to occur, changing its frequency, or maintaining it) and the pattern of responses you desire (steady, maximum output, peak for certain periods, etc.

· Unfortunately, in many organizations the wrong consequence system is in place.

Consequences of desired behavior are often negative or neutral. Undesired behavior may be rewarded. The reinforcers are badly delayed. They are delivered only on a group basis (annual company-wide profit sharing). The rewards are short-lived for behavior that is desired long-term. And almost always the positive reinforcement is too infrequent.

Reference

Brethower, D. (1972) Behavior Analysis in Business and Industry: A Total Performance System. Kalamazoo, MI: Behaviordelia Press

Assistant Professor Department of Mathematics Alluri Institute of Management Sciences Warangal – 506001, AP India

Small Business Internet Marketing Principles For Rapid Growth

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If you are a small business owner trying to carve a spot within your target market on the online world, then you are probably competing with some big fish competitors as well. Therefore, you need to find ways for your small business to stick out in order to survive in your market. You also need to rely on some reputable small business internet marketing tactics in order to see some nice business growth. Discussed in this article are a few ways you can use small business internet marketing techniques to put even your multi-million dollar a month competitors to shame.

In small business internet marketing, the first thing you need to consider is how you are going to stand out. Uniqueness is a very powerful thing in the online world. If you are able to provide a benefit or service that your competitors can’t provide, then you will be able to stick out. In order to get from under the shadow of your larger competition and stiff market, then you must set your small internet business apart by supplying something of value that your competitors are not.

In small business internet marketing, the next thing you need to do is beat your competitors to the top. In other words, you want to outrank all of them in the three major search engines, Google, Yahoo, and MSN. The point is to dominate your target market for a number of different keyword phrases that people within your target audience search for. You have to optimize each of the pages on your website in order to rank for a certain keyword.

The last and most strategic small business internet marketing method that will put you ahead of the game involves something that may sound contradictory. It is based on this one concept, “If you can’t beat them, join them!”. Therefore, this last method involves forming joint ventures and strategic alliances with your competitors. This is the quickest and fastest way to seeing major net profits in your online business.

Melvin Perry is an internet entrepreneur that specializes in helping small businesses build a large email list within a matter of weeks. He currently teaches marketers via free step by step videos how to earn thousands monthly through the list building model. You can snatch these 2+ hours videos at no cost by visiting FREE Internet Marketing Videos

Charity Begins at Home A New Look at 5000 Year Old Principles

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“…In the event of a sudden loss of oxygen from the cabin, a mask will drop down from the overhead panel above you…”

How many times have you spaced out during the safety procedure preceding an airline flight? Probably more times than you care to count, if you’ve done much flying. However, one of those instructions is of critical importance…

“…put on your own oxygen mask first before attending to children and other passengers.” No points for guessing why.

The thing is this: The exact same principle applies to any area of life where we may be called upon to assist others; including with money, fundraising, and even personal finances.

If you want to help somebody financially, by organising or participating in fundraising events for some charity, high school or special purpose, why not do it the easy way and just write them a check for the amount they need?

Don’t tell me. Let me guess… could it be because, truth be told, you need the money almost as much as the ones you are raising it for?

Fact is, according to research statistics, this would be a true statement for over 95% of the world’s entire population at any given moment, so don’t be surprised if you find yourself secretly agreeing…

Here’s where the “teach a man to fish” principle is lacking. It’s only half the solution.

Here’s the thing: Once you have got hold of your “fish” (whether you caught yourself it or somebody gave it to you), you need to know what to do with it, or all you will really have is a dead fish. Even if you did catch it yourself, if you cannot cook it, it will probably go to waste! Money’s just the same.

So when I say “Charity begins at home,” I mean that you must first take care of your own needs before giving away your resources to other people. Too much injudicious giving, no matter how well-intentioned, will result in you turning up in the handout line yourself.

What’s more, you will be at the wrong end of it.

So how do you satisfy your need to do your bit to help the world and still take proper care of yourself and your family?

Probably the simplest way I know of, is actually an adaptation of the principles contained in George S. Clason’s classic “The Richest Man In Babylon,” which includes the heartwarming (true) tale of Professor Shrewsbury’s financial redemption from crippling debt.

Would you like a way to:

1. Start thy purse to fattening

2. Control thy expenditures

3. Make thy gold multiply

4. Guard thy treasures from loss

5. Make of thy dwelling a profitable investment

6. Insure thy future income, and

7. Increase thy ability to earn …?

How wouldst thou like to have all 7 of these elements rolled into one powerful, yet simple, step that is “turbo-charged” to deal with today’s rapid pace, and the need for ever more money to keep ahead of thy rising costs?

How wouldst thou like to benefit both thyself AND thy favorite charity or high school fundraiser at the exact same time, from the exact same effort?

And how wouldst thou like to spend just a fraction of the time thou spendest now on fundraising activities, and at a fraction of the cost; yet multiply thy results many times over?

Well, here’s a simple solution, and your chance to benefit from age-old wisdom in a thoroughly modern way for just a dollar a day. Answer this:

Are you currently earning over $50,000 cash income per year from an investment (not work) of only $15 per month?

Are you willing to invest $15 per month into your own account, so your high school or charity can receive a $50,000+ per annum income without asking for donations from you?

If you would like to support your high school, or other local community group, please visit my blog Empowered Fundraising for more information – link at the end of this article.

Karen Adams © 2007 Karen is passionate about finding creative ways to raise money without asking for donations. For more information, and details about how easily you can build a “recession-proof” dynamic recurring income by investing small amounts, visit the blog: http://www.empoweredfundraising.com or email Karen at karen@moneybuddyalliance.com

Four Color Printing Understanding the Principles of Colors and Printing

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Four color printing is a key ingredient to the processes of printing today. Commercial printing companies have continued to maximize the use of colors, not only through technology but through expertise as well.

The makers of printing machines also continue to seek revolutionary ways to make prints richer and more colorful than they already are. In the progression of things, full color prints can only get better.

It does not take a scientist to figure out how you can order and have your designs processed and printed online in full color. However, understanding whether or not you truly have a high-quality full color print job in your hands is another matter. Sometimes, judging a full color print can be something more than meets the eyes.

While it may seem very simple to look at prints and compare them, there are certain concepts that you need to know. These ideas would prove to be helpful in your designs, printing projects, selection of a color printing company and scrutiny of the prints you have.

The Real Hues of Four Color Printing

There is more to four color printing than what most people know. You can use these pieces of information to shed light on four color printing and arm yourself with better information on making choices for your designs, printing companies and the like.

CMYK

Four color printing pertains to the four colors of inks used in printing. Known as CMYK or cyan, magenta, yellow and black, these four colors can create a multitude number of hues. A combination of these colors occupies a wide gamut of the color spectrum, thereby creating more than the said four colors.

It will recreate colors by mixing the different intensity levels of these inks on paper. It is quite similar to the process of mixing pigments. Imagine having a tube of yellow and blue, when you mix in different parts of yellow with blue, you will always get a different hue.

Light

Light works two ways for your prints. First, light brings out the vividness of your colors on your prints. A great paper stock or card stock is ideally bright white so that it can attract light that will bring out colors of your prints.

Second, light is important to printers as daylight and artificial light can affect prints. Light source is important because color matching and comparing can be affected. Imagine is the light that came streaming in is a bit reddish or yellow, ultimately, it can affect the kind of colored prints produced. So unless you’re with a full color printing expert, you can breathe easy and let this one factor go.

Paper Smoothness

If you want pure and vibrant colors, a paper with a smooth surface will give you this. This is because the flat and even surface of the paper will easily attract and reflect light.

Textured paper or those that have rough fibers tend to refract light. This means that light bounces off in all directions, making the colors seem diluted and flat. Color accuracy is then hard to maintain or achieve.

Color Accuracy

Color accuracy can only be achieved to a certain level. There is not 100% guarantee that what you see on screen is exactly what or how you will see on your prints. The monitors are the paper are both different media. It is with the expertise and calibration of press machines will your printer bring out the best colors for your prints.

Use these ideas to assess which four color printing company will work best for you and your printing projects. Solicit some sample books from online printers to help you decide and truly see for yourself how each one can bring about a quality four color printing.

For an attractive and attention grabbing materials four color printing will be an ideal concept to apply. To find more on its application please feel free to visit color printing wholesale

5 Principles To Ensure Your Business Grows

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Every business owner wants to see their business grow beyond its current position and it doesn’t matter if you’re thinking of starting a business, have been in operation for less than five years, or you have an established business. But growing a business is not easy, if it was then 80% of business start ups would not go out of business each year, and the remaining 50% would survive beyond five years. So what can you do to grow your business? This special report looks at five key areas you need to focus on to ensure your business grows along with specific action points.

Principle # 1 having a clear vision

Many times when I ask business owners (and particularly new business owners) what they want to achieve with – where do they want to take – their business in the next 5 years, along with asking them what profit margins do they want to achieve and What markets do they want to get into?, they are unable to tell me the answer.

When you come to plan business growth, or even start a new business, one important question needs to be asked? Why do you want to grow your business (and please don’t just say ‘to make more money.’) What is it you want to get from it? What is your outcome? What do you want to achieve from it?

An architect doesn’t say to a builder “Place some bricks over there. Build a wall so high here. Maybe a window this big there” They begin with the end in mind. The architect knows what size the building needs to be, what supports, joists, levels of foundations are needed. They know what materials are needed to get the job done, and how much it will cost and how long it will take. They have clarity as to what they want to achieve. It’s the same in business.

The clearer you are about what it is you want to achieve with your business, when you want to achieve it and what you are going to do to achieve it, the easier it will be to achieve and the quicker you will able to achieve it.

Why not try the following experiment to understand this principle.

Make sure you are in a room with lots of space and stand in the middle of the room away from anything you can bump into. Pick a point on the wall in front of you. This point is going to represent your business’s future. Then you will need to close your eyes and spin around five times. Finally without opening your eyes point to the spot on the wall that was depicting your business’s future. When you think you are pointing to it, open your eyes and see how you did.

How did you do? Did you point to your businesses future?

Ok I know it’s a silly game but you would have got the principle behind it. So many business owners spend their time moving around with ‘their eyes shut’ thinking they know where their business’s future is when unfortunately they don’t know at all, far from it.

Before moving on to the next principles please take a few moments to write down in a note pad or on a piece of paper that you can keep safe, the following question. ‘Where do I want this business to be in 5 years time?’ Then write out your answer making it as clear and concise as possible, because this is going to be the starting point for you to build your business the way you truly want.

Principle # 2 moving from point A to point B

In principle one I talked about the importance of knowing where you want to end up. In this principle I want to talk about how to get there.

If I were to ask you what is the shortest and most direct route from point A to point B? You would more than likely answer; ‘a straight line!’ After all everyone knows that from learning geometry in school. Yet so many business owners I come across who want to grow their business go in every direction but the most obvious and simplest one, a straight line.

A great example of this is a new business owner I met once who told me that he was going to set up a graphic design company helping new businesses to create their branding. Great I thought he knows exactly where he is going. The problem was he started getting involved in so many other things too. He began providing web design, organising printing jobs, and then adding photography as well. In fact he started doing everything but graphic design. He was like the motorist who wanted to go from London to Leeds (obvious route straight up the M1) but went via Southampton, Bristol, Birmingham and Manchester first.

If you are going to be a Graphic Designer, be a Graphic Designer. Be a good one then maybe once you have reached your destination add extra things then, not the other way round.

If you decide that to grow your business you need to do a specific task, think about what is the easiest and shortest, most direct way of doing it. Then stick to it, don’t deviate, divert, get distracted or add other things.

Another thing I commonly see with business owners (especially new business owners) is the urge to not take the simple route. It probably is great to come up with a completely new way of doing something, but to be honest by the time you have created a new fuel injected, glittery, all singing all dancing way of doing it, you could have done the simple thing and taken the most direct route.

Take your note book or piece of paper that you wrote your five year vision on and now underneath that write out how you are going to get there. This is going to take you some time but it is important to ensure that before you start on your journey you know where you are going. Remember the straighter and more direct the route, the better.

Principle # 3 focus your attention

Have you had the same experience as me when it comes to the day before you go away on holiday? You’re at work and you have stacks of jobs still outstanding on your desk. It can be filing, invoices to send out, accounts to pay, it doesn’t matter what the jobs are that still need doing; the point is you actually get them all done! Why is that? They have been sat there for ages then suddenly the day before you go away on holiday you get them all completed. That’s amazing isn’t it? No! That is what is known as focused attention?

One of the main reasons why businesses fail to grow, and in particular new businesses fail to survive, is because the business owner will do everything else but focus their attention on their business.

I had a client who recently called me in a panic. They are an Estate agent and their sales had suddenly begun to dry up. They weren’t selling their properties like they used to. When I sat down with them it came apparent why their sales had dried up when I asked them the question, ‘Talk me through a typical day’

They told me about all the paperwork they had to do, the filing that needed doing, the advertising that had to be sorted out and so on and so on. Not once did they mention the viewings they need to arrange or the actual selling of property they needed to do. Why not? Because their attention was focused on everything else but the actual thing they were there for; selling houses. As soon as they redirected their focus, sales began to rise.

New business owners do this all the time. They spend time sorting out their new office, getting the furniture all straight and correct. They focus on getting their letter head right and their paper work systems in order. They focus on anything and everything except the most important thing to insure their survival… getting customers!

Why is Tiger Woods so successful at golf? Quite simply, he focuses his attention on being the best. He doesn’t worry about or waste time designing golf courses. He isn’t putting all his attention into opening golf academies. When he is not hitting a ball 400 yards he is practising hitting it 400 yards. When he is not winning tournaments with great short game play, he is practising his short game play so he does win tournaments that way. It is because of his focused attention that he has been #1 in the golf rankings for such a long time now, winning more tournaments than any current player and the reason why he was the #1 highest paid sports star in 2006, earning a massive $100 million.

Now that you have written down where you want to be in five years time and then followed it up by planning the most direct route to get there, I want you to write down the key areas you believe you need to focus on to ensure you get there in five years or less. What areas do you need to really focus your attention? What will need the most attention? Once you have written them down, keep referring to them to ensure you are not deviating from them and getting off track.

Principle # 4 who do you do business with?

This may seem like an obvious question to you, but you would be surprised to discover that many businesses that fail to grow do so because they have forgotten who they do business with.

I knew of a very successful business that went from start up to one of the fastest growing and most successful businesses in the whole of the UK, all within 2 years. Within 4 years it went into administration.

The main reason why the company went into administration was a simply one. It grew so fast in the first place because they had a unique service that none of their competition provided. What’s more there was a need for it, but only in a particular market place. The company wanted to expand by moving into market areas where they were unknown. The problem was the company had lost sight of what made them successful in the first place and stopped focusing on the service that gave them that success. They tried to be a player in a market place unfamiliar to them. The company had a number of outlets located in different towns across the region and before long the previously successful outlets had to increase their performance to support the new ones who were not doing so well. Eventually because these new outlets were not being successful, the existing ones could no longer support them, and the company had to call in the administrators.

It costs 6 times more to generate new clients than it does to service and keep selling to the ones you already have. So let me ask you – Who are your clients? Who is providing you with your revenue? If you don’t know exactly, you need to find out because not only is it more cost effective but 80% of your revenue will come from around 20% of your customers, those that have bought from you in the past. So as long as you have provided them with a good service in the past they will buy from you again. If you are bringing out a new product or service, tell them about it, get them to buy it from you. Don’t make the mistake of looking for new clients when you have them already at your door step.

In your book / on your piece of paper write out a list of your top 20 – 50 customers. The ones you deal with the most and who buy from you the most. Once you know who they are then you can focus your attention on having them buy from you again and again.

Principle # 5 who can help you?

The most successful businesses and those business owners, who know how to build a successful business, know the power of leverage.

There are three main sources we use in business:

o Time

o Money

o Energy

Each one of these sources if we use them personally, are a drain on both our business and ourselves. Think about it for a moment. Business’s that fail to grow do so because they are wasting either time, money, or energy and in the worst case, all three. If you are a one man operation are you wasting time and energy doing the filing, accounts, invoices, bills, orders etc? If you employ staff are they wasting time and energy by focusing on things that are not important, or to put it as principle # 3 says, not focusing their attention. Is the job or task you are currently doing really important? Can it be done later or if you really tap into leverage, can someone else be doing it? Can you be using someone else’s time, money or energy?

In you note book / on your piece of paper Write out all the tasks you currently do daily in you business and ask the following questions about each task.

o Is it going to eventually save me time or am I wasting time?

o Will I be making money doing this task or wasting money?

o Can only I do this task or can I pass it on to someone else?

For your business to really truly grow you need to learn to tap into OPT, OPM and OPE:

Other Peoples Time,

Other Peoples Money

Other Peoples Energy.

Those who do this successfully are seeing not only their business grow, and their profits increase, but as a result they have more time, more money and more energy to do the things they really want, be it in business or in their private life.

By going through these five principles and working on the task I set you on each one, you have begun to create a plan that will help you work towards growing your business. You can also visit [http://www.yourbusinessgrowthcoach.com] and try our 10 Day Business Boost programme to begin boosting your profits immediately – ITS FREE – plus if you would like to discuss how as Your Business Growth Coach I can help you and your business in other ways, call me on 0800 2982910 to discuss further.

Naithan Tarrant is owner of Your Business Growth Coach. Naithan has been involved in Business Marketing and growth, along with personal development and life coaching since 1994. He is an accredited Life Coach, an Executive & Corporate coach, plus an accredited Guerrilla Marketing Coach, along with a Master Practitioner of NLP, and a business owner. He is also a member of Toastmasters International.

At the age of 19 Naithan outbid five of the world’s largest providers of food packaging lines to make him the first to sell such equipment into Russia. A few years later he started his own mortgage brokerage, built it into a national company and then sold it for six figures. In 2003 he was on the management team of a new company that turned it into the 22nd fastest growing company on the Virgin Fast Track 100 companies list within 18 months. Now as one of only 200 Guerrilla marketing coaches in the world, a Licensed Trainer for The Coaching Academy, along with being personally mentored by the world’s number one business growth expert Jay Abraham.

Prevent Sticking By Following These Simple Engineering Principles

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Sticking, you say? Even after you’ve included a non stick coating on your equipment?

If you believe all non stick coatings are created equal, I have news for you. But don’t be overwhelmed. Just start with these simple truths:

1) No two coatings work exactly alike in the same environment.

2) No single coating works exactly alike in two different environments.

Ignore this at your peril! It’s not always the fault of the coating, you see. Often, it’s failure to understand the environment.

What can result? Well, you probably already know.

So, what makes a good non stick coating? First, let’s define ‘sticking’.

Sticking occurs when molecules of a substance have stronger attraction to a surface than to each other. Conversely, if molecules have greater attraction for each other than the surface, non stick (also known asrelease) occurs.

Be sure not to confuse sticking with lubrication. The two phenomena are different. Here, we say the more difficult it is to ‘wet’ a surface, the better the non stick (release). Imagine a freshly waxed car and how easily water is repelled. Like beads. Generally, the more hydrophobic (‘water-repelling’) a coating, the better the release. DuPont Teflon, or other manufacturers of PTFE, PFA, MFA, or FEP are all excellent non stick polymer-agents.

To pick a non stick coating right for you, look for non wetting characteristics. But don’t forget the environment! Heat, chemical, and mechanical influences simply can’t be ignored.

Today, advancements in non stick technology continue–both for release and wear. New fillers or binders, for example, can offer exceptional forms of ‘internal’ reinforcement. Hardening or other ‘external’reinforcements, including anodizing, plating, vapor deposition, and thermal spray, by some providers, has produced extraordinary results.

So how do you choose? First, understand your environment. You will be in a much better position to choose your next coating, to prevent sticking.

Want more information? Need help with your surface engineering? We care! Just visit us at:

Sticking

William Gunnar, a degreed scientist, researcher, engineer, and friend, has helped thousands of ‘best of class’ product designers and equipment manufacturers — for nearly 20 years now — surface engineer with coatings for success.

His publication, Industrial Coatings World, brings wisdom, honesty, leading edge information, and no nonsense advice to thousands weekly. Put together by some of the world’s leading experts in coatings and manufacturing, his FREE newsletters are truly must-reads for those who want to be ‘in-the-know’.