'Lean' methods mean a healthier bottom line
DemocratandChronicle.com
Toolmaker Advent puts RIT expertise to work
Ben Rand
Staff writer
(December 9, 2005) — On a busy factory floor populated by more than 100 people rushing to make millions of plastic parts each year, sometimes the simplest solutions are the hardest to spot. Charles Alexander and his co-workers at Advent Co. of Rochester got a good lesson in this recently.
Alexander and other material handlers at Advent were having a hard time communicating which materials were in use — or needed to be used — over the course of a shift change. The problem went away when the team opted to put up a big message board.
"We could look at the board and know immediately what material (was needed), what job it's for and what machine it's for," said Alexander, 35, who has worked at Advent for about a year.
