This blog is to be a source of inspiration for those of us who want to be more creative. In the blog you will find personal thoughts and experiences, interesting interviews, links to articles and creative people. The more brains that are involved the greater the creativity, so by sharing ideas and inspiration creativity flourishes.
Over the years there have been many paradigms that claim to optimize production and save the world—bottleneck, forward and backward, finite and infinite scheduling models, DDMRP, Kanban—and almost all failed in some way to deliver manufacturing nirvana. One such stratagem was the Theory of Constraints (TOC). But could a fresh approach to TOC, combined with…
The penalties for poor maintenance can be high—in energy production, loss of revenue and component costs, as well as fines levied for non-delivery. But contrast this with time and/or operation count-based maintenance where a piece of equipment gets maintained whether it needs it or not. This is labor intensive and ineffective in identifying problems that…
Augmented and virtual reality seem to have existed as buzzwords in lots of industries over recent years—but real-life business use cases have been relatively slow to emerge. Sure, they have proved popular for gamers across the world, but the technology has now taken a step out of the living room and onto the tarmac in…
We’ve all heard the promises of efficiency improvements and digital transformation made possible by adopting internet of things (IoT) technologies. This assumes, of course, that the observations coming out of the IoT monitoring system are actually correct. No, this blogpost is not about tampering or other cybersecurity concerns—although that topic would be worth a blogpost…
Businesses are constantly told they will go broke if they do not digitally transform and quickly, but for manufacturers it’s not quite as simple. If production goes down even for a day, the impact can be irreversible, with potentially millions in revenue lost. From an ergonomic, economic and environmental perspective, smart factories are heralded as…
Predictions vary about when emergent technologies will become a reality. Can taking a look at the past provide insight into what’s next? No matter where you look there are predictions on when technologies such as artificial intelligence, augmented reality and driverless cars will become a reality and commonplace in our lives. Many pundits fall back…
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is such a big topic, and so many different possibilities exist, that you should focus on those opportunities that make the most sense for your business. You can’t do everything at once and that applies to us, the Research & Development teams of IFS, as well. Which areas make sense? Where can…
Activity in Australia’s mining sector is accelerating, auguring well for exports and the broader economy, according to economic forecaster and industry analyst, BIS Oxford Economics. But with maintenance costs forecast to increase nearly 60 percent over the next five years now is the time to invest in systems to keep expenditure under control. According to…
The servitization megatrend is upon us. Product-driven companies are adding services revenue streams and business models, usually to augment but sometimes to replace product-based business. What is servitization, and why is it happening? When a major change or megatrend happens, there is usually not just a single reason. Multiple forces push a culture, society or…
In this Q&A with industry expert Graham Grose, Vice President and Industry Director at IFS, he answers questions on how commercial aviation companies can overcome today’s maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) challenges. Graham is responsible for supporting all IFS business development within the aviation and defense industry, together with associated industry marketing and overall product…
