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The manufacturing sector has changed—bringing both opportunities and challenges. Neither business leaders nor policy makers can rely on old responses in the new manufacturing environment. 

The purpose of Lean is to deliver value to customers by removing all waste, overburden and variation from processes.   The first step is to create a Lean culture . . . and then continuously improve processes to exceed customer expectations. A true lean culture is when the first question is always why (purpose) and then what (action) so problems are solved by everyone (people).

Sure enough, even Mr. and Mrs. Claus has moved into the 21st century. There is a rumor that Santa and his elves use the Portable PowerPack as a means to give extra power to his sleigh.  "Having Portable PowerPacks at the North Pole has been the difference between happy vs. grumpy among the elves and reindeer.  They appreciate the convenience of having power handy in the most unusual places." says Mrs. Claus.

Gemba Walks - In lean manufacturing, the idea of genba is that the problems are visible, and the best improvement ideas will come from going to the genba. The gemba walk, much like Management By Walking Around (MBWA), is an activity that takes management to the front lines to look for waste and opportunities to practice genba kaizen, or practical shopfloor improvement.

Over the years, research — as well as trial and error — led to what is now called lean manufacturing. 

Successful warehouse operations have several characteristics in common.  

Warehouse management is the art of movement and storage of materials throughout the warehouse.  It involves the physical warehouse infrastructure, tracking systems, and communication between product stations.

When leveraging technology such as portable power to improve order fulfillment process, key performance criteria includes:

On October 1, 1908, the first production Model T Ford is completed at the company's Piquette Avenue plant in Detroit. Between 1908 and 1927, Ford would build some 15 million Model T cars.