AX Control, Inc.

What is Lean Manufacturing?

We answer some of your questions about Lean.

Pexels Photo Cogs — Lean helps all parts of your organization come together as an organized machine.

History of Lean Manufacturing

“Lean Manufacturing” as a term has only been around for a little over 30 years. The term was originally coined by John Krafcik (now CEO of Waymo and former CEO of Hyundai Motor America) in his MIT master’s thesis entitled “Triumph of the Lean Production System.”

Definition: Lean Manufacturing
a practice or process
that seeks to minimize waste while maximizing value to the customer or client.

While Krafcik may have created the term, lean manufacturing has been around for significantly longer. It can be traced back to the work of Eli Whitney, who was the first to successfully manufacture a product with interchangeable parts, and to time and motion studies by engineers like Frederick Taylor and Frank and Lillian Gilbreth applied to industrial workers of the early 20th century. Additionally, Henry Ford’s assembly line was also a leap forward in lean manufacturing.

Manufacturing Disaster Recovery Plan: Create Yours Now

A natural disaster or pandemic doesn’t have to mean disaster for your manufacturing facility. Be prepared.

We may remember the last few years as the time of unending disasters. Historic spring flooding, wildfires, hurricanes, and other storms were so widespread across the USA in 2019 one-third of the country qualified for federal disaster relief. In Australia, nearly 30 million acres burned during their 2019 wildfire season. Then the pandemic began. With it came civil unrest, supply chain nightmares(remember all those ships stuck in the Suez Canal) and yet another round of natural disasters.

Close up of a fire truck. A manufacturing disaster recovery plan helps keep fire trucks far away. — A manufacturing disaster recovery plan lets everyone know what to do when disaster strikes.

It should be a wake-up call for everyone. Natural and other disasters can strike any part of the world. The probability of something unexpected impacting your manufacturing plant is high, and shouldn’t be ignored.

Here are some key steps in minimizing the risks associated with an unforeseen disruption.

Have an established action plan for your personnel.

If a disaster occurs, your managers and team members should know exactly where to go, what to do, and what they are responsible for. Outline responsibilities in advance. This will help each person or team understand how their role will help in maintaining safety or in returning operations back to normal. Your manufacturing disaster recovery plan should include the following:

Koyo Direct Logic 205: Most Common FAQs

Koyo Direct Logic 205 D2-04B — The Koyo DirectLogic DL205 4 Slot AC Base

Here at AX Control, we field a lot of questions about the devices we sell. This is the first in a series of posts that will answer some of those FAQs. This post will focus on the Koyo Direct Logic 205 series.

What is the Koyo Direct Logic 205?

Automation Direct DirectLOGIC 205 controller is a micro-modular programmable logic controller. These PLCs have a built-in power supply and come in 3-slot, 4-slot 6-slot, and 9-slot versions. Certain versions of the DL205 support up to four expansion bases.

How can I load programs onto a DirectLogic 205 PLC?

Downloading a program and connecting to the Koyo DirectLogic PLC is covered extensively in the AutomationDirect manual. Here are the basic steps:

Start the Linking Process by connecting via the PLC menu bar(first option in the dropdown menu.)
Add a new link by clicking “Add to” in the ‘select link’ pop up menu. If you have created previous communications links the menu will give you the option to select which link you want to proceed with.
Select a COM port. You should have previously connected a communications cable to your desired COM port. Now re-enter that COM port location into the pop-up menu and hit “Next.”
Select a PLC family from the pop-up menu. In this case, you will choose 105/205/405 family.
Select your communications protocol. Leave the PLC address set to the default.