This blog is the first in a series for Black History Month to celebrate and share the stories of Black American manufacturing leaders.
Toyin Kolawole is the founder and CEO of Iya Foods, a nourishment-focused food company inspired by her African roots and located in Illinois. Toyin grew up in Lagos, Nigeria, assisting with her family’s numerous entrepreneurial ventures, which included a small convenience drug store and a fast food business. Continue reading
In years past, many businesses have succeeded with an agile, reactive approach to business where they respond to climate, competition, and social circumstances in an “after the fact” way. This focus was predominantly on responding to disruptions as they came in, putting out fires to solve issues. Continue reading
Many manufacturers who adopted lean principles by applying a “just-in-time” (JIT) mindset to inventory of materials and parts have been burned, sometimes badly, by cascading supply chain disruptions. Broken links in the supply chain have created havoc, especially for smaller manufacturers.
Some have scrambled to build “safety stock” of hard-to-find supplies. Others have sought out redundant sourcing. The reality is that everything is connected in your supply chain, and those connections can be fragile when they are not well supported. Continue reading
The COVID-19 pandemic brought to light a stark reality about current supply chains. As Nissan Motor Co.’s Chief Operating Officer Ashwani Gupta points out, “The just-in-time model is designed for supply-chain efficiencies and economies of scale. The repercussions of an unprecedented crisis like COVID highlight the fragility of our supply-chain model.” The U.S. supply chain has so far struggled to adapt and restock pandemic-depleted inventories. There are industrywide shortages and a lag in how many manufacturers are responding. Continue reading
The current national controversy over the need for a mandatory high minimum wage is but a symptom of a much larger underlying problem; the offshoring of American manufacturing capability. Offshoring ruined Spain and Portugal in the 16th century, and it is similarly a clear and present danger not only to the American worker’s standard of living but also to the national security of the United States. The good news is however that the quality and manufacturing professions are positioned ideally to help the United States reshore its manufacturing capability, and with simple principles that predate the quality profession and industrial statistics. The benefits of reshoring include: Continue reading