Robotic Process Automation (RPA) refers to software “robots” that can be taught or programmed to mimic human actions like typing, copy-and-paste, open files, read files... do many tasks across programs and applications just as human workers do. It is especially suitable for tasks requiring no subjective judgement, that can be described simply. The RPA software … Continue reading What is Robotic Process Automation (RPA)?
Month: October 2019
The blurring definition of waste in a 4.0 world – Part 2 of 2 – Robotic Process Automation
In part 1 of this series I took the example of Additive Manufacturing vs. traditional machining to explain the blurring definition of (Lean) waste and value. In this post, I propose another take with Robotic Process Automation (RPA). With RPA, some tasks considered unnecessary and wasteful in the classic Lean point of view are automated … Continue reading The blurring definition of waste in a 4.0 world – Part 2 of 2 – Robotic Process Automation
The blurring definition of Lean waste in a 4.0 world – Part 1 of 2 – Additive Manufacturing
Until recently in the Lean community, the definition of waste was “simple”: waste is any activity consuming resources without producing value for the customer. In this definition time can be considered a resource and “customer” is extended to anyone beneficiary of the outcome, like a patient in a hospital getting faster and better care. Focusing … Continue reading The blurring definition of Lean waste in a 4.0 world – Part 1 of 2 – Additive Manufacturing
Finding the bottleneck, not always that simple!
Basically, a bottleneck is the slowest step in a process, the machine having trouble keeping pace. To find a bottleneck, go and have a look at where the inventories pile up and from where the machines are starved from upstream supplies, there is your bottleneck. Well, it’s not always that simple.
Chris HOHMANN 