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Top Technology Advancements Driving Safety in Manufacturing and Maintenance

Manufacturing and maintenance environments are inherently high-risk, with heavy machinery, moving parts, and hazardous materials creating potential hazards daily. Over the past decade, technology has transformed how companies...

The Cost of Chaos: Why Reactive Problem Solving is Crippling Efficiency

Supply chain disruptions are an all-too-familiar phenomenon for modern businesses. Amid rising risks and awareness, many organizations have...

Why Manufacturing is in the National Interest

“I have a foreboding of…when the United States is a service and information economy; where nearly all manufacturing industries have slipped away...

Why Equipment Reliability Matters in Oil and Gas Operations

Equipment reliability is a fundamental pillar in oil and gas production. From upstream drilling to downstream refining, operations depend on...

The Hidden Cost of Bad MRO Data: How Clean Data Cuts Millions in Transaction Waste

In industrial operations, Maintenance, Repair, and Operations (MRO) functions are essential but often overlooked as a source of inefficiency. While...

Smart Factories: Connecting the Pieces Through Integrated Technologies

Smart factories are redefining how supply chains operate, making production lines faster, more accurate, and better connected than ever. At the...

How to Build a Culture of Operational Excellence in Mining

Mining companies are embracing operational excellence to remain competitive, profitable, and sustainable in a challenging and rapidly evolving...

Effective Asset Management: Key Considerations from Returns to Disposal

Poor asset management can result in significant financial losses beyond the cost of replacement, with reputational damage, compromised data, and...

The Evolution of Operational Excellence: AI, Data Science, and Lean Practices

Operational excellence is the pursuit of enhanced efficiency and effectiveness in business processes. Traditionally, companies relied on...

Understanding Working Load Limits: The Key to Preventing Rigging Accidents

In industries that rely on lifting and hoisting heavy loads, understanding load limits is crucial to preventing rigging accidents. Proper knowledge...

7 Autonomous Technology Innovations Reshaping Efficiency

The world is relying more than ever on automation and robots to get the job done. How do these human-less machines improve efficiency? Here are...

How Management Consultants Team Up with Clients to Accelerate Process Improvements

If you’re considering hiring a management consultant to improve efficiency, reduce waste, optimize processes, or streamline workflows, you may be...

Overcoming Barriers to Tech Adoption in Global Supply Chains

When managing your supply chain, it’s crucial to be aware of the latest technologies and how to integrate them with your existing systems. Doing so...

Unveiling Agentic AI for UNSPSC Classification: A Game-Changer in Data Management

One of USC Consulting Group’s partners, AICA, has developed a groundbreaking Agentic AI Classification Tool that automates UNSPSC classification,...

Management Consultants vs Boardroom Consultants: Which is Right for You?

You’ve hit a snag in your operations. You’re wondering if your manufacturing line could be more productive. Your demand forecasting didn’t hit the...

Intermodal Transportation Growth Trends to Watch in 2025

Long-haul trucking has become more expensive and less logistically viable, making intermodal transportation an increasingly attractive alternative....

The Benefits of Eye Care in Workplace Productivity and Efficiency

Employee burnout is becoming a critical issue in today’s workplaces. According to the 2023-2024 Aflac WorkForces Report, nearly 60% of U.S. workers...

Turning Standards into Strategy: Elevating Business Practices With Measurable Goals

Industry standards serve as essential benchmarks, establishing a baseline for operational excellence and competitive differentiation. They guide...

Manufacturing | Data Analysis | AI | Business Operations | Integration

Revolutionizing Business: Strategic AI Approaches for Operational Success

In the rapidly evolving landscape of modern business, artificial intelligence (AI) is a pivotal force reshaping how companies operate. Integrating...

Optimizing Production with Effective Pre-Manufacturing Thermal Management

Achieving efficiency in manufacturing requires meticulous attention to pre-production processes, especially when managing temperature-sensitive...

5 for 25: The Five Keys to Successful Operations in 2025

Labor shortages, supply chain disruption, and technological change have been cause for concern for executives in the manufacturing industry the...

Real-Time Customer Insight: Building KPIs that Drive Authentic Engagement

In a landscape that shifts with every digital innovation, understanding your customers in the present moment is more than a goal—it’s the...

How Managed Transportation Systems Improve Supply Chain Efficiency and Cost Savings

The nature of supply chains has evolved over the years, with new technologies and many players in the middle making logistics highly complicated...

7 Ways Manufacturers Can Combat Rising Cargo Theft Trends

When cargo theft occurs, the entire supply chain suffers. Manufacturers must be aware of these recent trends occurring and act accordingly to...

The Employee Involvement Prototype Process: USC’s Secret Weapon for Success

There is one element of an organization that holds significantly more value than any other aspect and yet many companies overlook it. Focusing on...

Upskilling in Manufacturing: Resources You Can Use to Enhance Your Workforce

The manufacturing industry has seen rapid growth in recent years. Employment reached 13 million as of January, and the number of manufacturing...

Asset Management in 2025: The Crystal Ball into Increased Reliability

Over the next five years, mining and metals companies are expected to spend between $25 billion to $30 billion annually to maintain their assets. ...

Enhancing Supply Chain Transparency with Real-Time Visibility Platforms

As technology continues to improve, large companies and supply chain manufacturers have more opportunities to expand their businesses and reach...

Revolutionizing Warehouse Operations: Key Practices for Modern Success

Exploring the dynamics of effective warehouse management reveals a myriad of strategies that significantly enhance operational efficiency and...

How You Can Use UNSPSC Classification to Enhance Spend Analytics

Spend analysis is essential, yet complex and most organizations are unaware that spend analysis can be simplified and accelerated by implementing a...

Scaling Your Business Efficiently Through Optimized Team Collaboration and Time Management

The idea of scaling your business can be both exciting and overwhelming. All companies want to excel, but not every leader knows the most efficient...

The Secret to Accelerating Operational Maturity through Capital Project Excellence

It is commonly believed that the project stakeholders have delivered their project commitments once the asset had been successfully commissioned. ...

How Businesses Implement AI-Driven Demand Planning in Supply Chains

Factors ranging from the weather to celebrities’ social media posts can spur the public’s demand for particular products. Those spikes can cause...

Overcoming the Top 5 Challenges in Product Warehousing

Efficient warehouse management is crucial for the success of any business. However, numerous challenges can hinder operations and impact overall...

Leveraging the Power of AI and IoT in your Management Operating System

By integrating their Management Operating Systems (MOS) with AI and IoT, mining and metals companies can significantly enhance their operational...

How USC Consulting Group Accelerates Your Process Improvement Efforts

At USC Consulting Group, we’ve been empowering performance for more than 50 years. What does that mean? It means we’re an operations management and...

AI's Impact on Supply Chain Data Management: Insights from Gartner

In Gartner's latest report “Top GenAI Use Cases That Work Best for Supply Chain Logistics,” Carly West and Jose Reyes highlight the transformative...

How Revenue Technology Brings Significant Value for Manufacturing Businesses to Profit

The manufacturing industry is experiencing multiple challenges this year. Among the most significant hurdles it's facing is a high turnover....

How to Build High-Performing Teams in the Manufacturing Industry

Manufacturing can be a competitive industry. You not only need to produce innovative products that capture the market. It’s also essential to run...

6 Tactics to Attracting Gen Z to the Manufacturing Workforce

Got Gen Z on the payroll? If you’re like many companies in the manufacturing sector, the answer is likely “no.” That is a talent pipeline your...

Designing For A Greener Future: Sustainability In Manufacturing Machines

The world is increasingly focused on sustainability, and the manufacturing sector is no exception. Consumers are demanding eco-friendly practices,...

The Impact of Management Operating Systems in Mining & Metals

A robust MOS is vital for mining and metal companies to navigate the challenges of today’s market. Management operating systems (MOS) are making...

Variation Matters: Why AI Still Needs Humans for Accurate Predictive Analytics

Remember when artificial intelligence (AI) was a glimmer on the horizon? And then ChatGPT stormed onto the scene and people were convinced every...

The Efforts You Need to Take to Improve Industrial Hygiene and Safety

The manufacturing industry keeps society ticking, but it consists of people. As technology advances, using it to improve worker safety reigns...

Enhancing Global Supply Chain Operations with UNSPSC

Global supply chains are intricate networks that span multiple countries and continents, involving a multitude of processes, from procurement to...

The Hidden Cost of Downtime in Manufacturing: Keeping Your Production Lines Humming

Downtime – the dreaded halt in production that can cripple a manufacturing operation. It's more than just an inconvenience; it's a hidden cost that...

Digital Twins Technology and Their Impact on Manufacturing and Supply Chain Efficiency

It’s no secret that manufacturing and supply chain organizations are constantly in pursuit of a greater degree of efficiency. This is the key to...

S&OP vs SIOP - What’s In a Name and How Can It Help My Business?

There are a lot of terms used by organizations to describe their mid to long range strategic planning discipline. Whether your organization calls...

How to Save On Labor Costs Without Compromising Safety

In today's competitive business landscape, keeping labor costs under control is a constant concern. However, this pursuit of cost-efficiency must...

How Capital Projects Unlock Significant Net Present Value

Effective risk management, strategic planning, and operational excellence are crucial for minimizing NPV losses and maximizing project value. ...

How Next-Gen Technologies are Streamlining Warehouse Operations

Warehouse operations are critical to any manufacturing business. From holding inventory to delivering items, the process must be as swift and...

How to Improve Asset Management and Equipment Performance to Enhance Reliability

Mining and metals companies are implementing a range of strategies to enhance asset management and equipment reliability. In today’s market, many...

Strategic Time Mastery: Elevating Leadership through Efficient Work Practices

“Time is really the only capital that any human being has, and the only thing he can't afford to lose.” - Thomas Edison There are many skills a...

Renewable or Traditional? An Outlook of the Global Energy Industry

The energy and utilities industry is in the midst of change. Businesses are facing pressure from the government and consumers alike for more...

Managing the Unexpected: What it Takes to be a High Reliability Organization

Have you heard of a High Reliability Organization? The concept has been out there for several decades but it’s taking center stage again now. Let’s...

Reducing Downtime with Low Or No Maintenance Industrial Machinery

In the dynamic realm of industrial operations, downtime is the arch-nemesis of productivity and profitability. Every minute lost to equipment...

Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) Communication and Its Manufacturing Implications

Automobiles are becoming smarter thanks to advancing technologies and manufacturing practices. Nowadays, vehicles can communicate with each other,...

How to Optimize Talent Management in B2B Manufacturing

As a manager in a business-to-business manufacturing environment, your goal is to ensure the accuracy and proficiency of your systems and...

How Much Does the Presidential Election Matter to CEOs?

Do you ever notice that, right around this time during every presidential election cycle, the candidates always start talking with much urgency...

AI's Positive Impact on Manufacturing - Why The Bots Are Not Coming For Our Jobs

Since the industrial revolution, every technological advancement has been viewed through the lens of its effect on jobs. Will I be obsolete? Can a...

Charged Up: The Evolution of Battery Technology for Electric Vehicles

Electric vehicles (EVs) have become more mainstream in today’s automotive industry, and the next few decades will see automakers electrifying their...

How Food Manufacturers Influence Your Rising Grocery Bills

The rise in food prices is all over the news these days. The USDA and the Consumer Price Index tell us that, in 2023, grocery store purchases were...

How Automation is Driving The Future of Automotive Manufacturing

The automotive industry is driving automation by having the largest number of robots working in factories around the world — operational stock hit...

7 Technological Innovations Transforming the Mining Industry

Mining companies know all too well how expensive and dangerous the industry can be, and the demand for safer and more efficient training and...

Are Your Employees Burned Out? Ways for Executives to Fight Workplace Fatigue

If you suspect your employees are burned out, you’re probably onto something. The 2023-2024 Aflac WorkForces Report revealed almost 60% of U.S....

Sustainability Challenges and the 5 Opportunities for Manufacturers to Go Green

All roads are leading most industries to adopt increasingly more sustainable practices. The pressure for manufacturers to go green is growing in...

Boosting Your Bottom Line: Making Business Efficiency Your Top Priority

Businesses across the nation are adjusting to slimmer profit margins. The Financial Times reports that price spikes, labor shortages, and supply...

4 Tactics to Help Manufacturers With Supply Chain Issues in 2024

How’s your supply chain running these days? If you’re like most manufacturers, you’re still experiencing challenges. Big challenges. The pandemic...

Robots, Cobots and Their Impact on Automotive Assembly

Industrial and collaborative robots have had a tremendous impact on the automotive industry, changing the standards for production, quality control...

What's Ahead for Mining in 2024: 8 Challenges & How to Overcome Them

Challenges are not new to the mining industry and 2024 is shaping up to hold several, from ESG pressure to labor shortages. But by focusing on...

6 Ways to Help Streamline Manufacturing Operations

Manufacturers today deal with greater demands from consumers than ever before. It is vital for manufacturers to deliver on time, every time. Fail...

What's Happening with Electric Vehicle Demand?

Has the trend passed about caring for the environment and preventing harmful emissions? Despite the fact that GMC is touting its new, 2024 Hummer...

How to Effectively Manage Employees in the Workplace

Managing employees in the workplace is a huge responsibility and one that can have both positive and negative effects on all aspects of an...

The Role of Big Data Analytics in Automotive Maintenance and Predictive Diagnostics

Technology is crucial in most industries to advance safety and efficiency. The automotive sector is an excellent example of how advanced technology...

5 Common Problems Haunting Manufacturers and How to Banish Them for Good

With Halloween just around the corner, we started thinking about nightmares that can occur to manufacturers. Is something bedeviling your...

The Importance of Precision Machining in Manufacturing Automation

Remarkable innovations emerge seemingly every day in the world of manufacturing. One area specifically experiencing significant modernizations is...

7 Tactics to Solve Challenges in 2024 for the Oil and Gas Industry

The 2024 forecasts for the oil and gas industry include some conflicting speculation about supply and demand. It's leading to confusion for U.S....

Efficiency Through Safety: How They Shape Warehouse Operations

Warehouses are bustling hubs of activity where precision and speed are key to meeting customer demands. While efficiency has always been a top...

How Do Strikes Impact the Manufacturing Industry?

Strikes have been in the headlines lately, with the writers' strike bringing Hollywood to a standstill and President Biden making history as the...

The ‘Permacrisis’ Era: How to Manage Your Operations to Overcome Instability

Last year, the London-based Collins Dictionary named "permacrisis" as the word of the year. It means an extended period of instability caused by an...

How to Utilize Statistical Process Control to Reduce Manufacturing Variability

Statistical process control (SPC) is a commonly used machine learning software in manufacturing that measures the consistency of a product’s...

5 Ways the Automotive Manufacturing Industry Can Improve Processes

The automotive manufacturing industry has been traveling a strange and bumpy road over the past couple of years. The pandemic created a traffic jam...

The Importance of Effective Vendor Relationship Management

For many, the turmoil surrounding the supply chain over the past few years has shed light on areas in need of improvement. One such aspect of...

7 Steps to Improve Efficiency in Food Processing Immediately

In the food processing industry, optimal efficiency is the key to keeping those razor-thin margins in the black. Now, with ongoing challenges like...

The Best Reporting Tools & Technology to Enhance Your Operations

With all the recent media attention about ChatGPT and other AI tools taking over our jobs (and our world), it's easy to forget that technology —...

What Does the Rise in Electric Vehicles Mean for Auto Manufacturers?

When looking into the trends for the automotive industry, there's really only one headline. Electric vehicles. EVs are no longer "the future" of...

Is Operational Excellence Really Possible? 8 Ways to Achieve it... Today

There's a popular phenomenon being shared online at the moment: "Instagram vs. Reality." It's two photos, side by side. One is doctored and...

6 Tactics for Process Improvement Sustainability After the Job Is Done

When you hire a consulting firm, you expect recommendations, changes, process improvements and a healthy return on your investment. In short, you...

Improving Inventory Visibility Through Modern Technology

Effective inventory management is often a challenging task for businesses to undertake. While some factors may be similar across organizations,...

3 Top Challenges of Modern Material Handling and How the Industry is Tackling Them

The material handling industry is the backbone of globalized supply chains. However, it encounters a range of challenges, both internal and...

What is a Feasibility Study and Why Is It Important to a Project?

Starting a new project is an exciting time for our consultants because it involves deep learning. As we often say, we don't just swoop in and offer...

How Smart Business Tech is Optimizing the B2B Supply Chain

The B2B supply chain is changing in this tech-forward world. Like so many other things, if you’re not getting on board with smart business tech,...

Shifting the Learning Curve: Ramp Up Faster to Retain Employees

It's a problem plaguing companies across most, if not all, industries: the loss of institutional knowledge when a seasoned vet retires. The person...

What 55 Years of Operations Consulting Experience Has Taught Us

We're celebrating a milestone here at USC Consulting Group — 55 years partnering with businesses around the globe empowering their performance. Our...

How to Eliminate The Biggest Time-Waster in Manufacturing: Repetitive Tasks

Studies have shown that over 40% of workers across various industries spend a significant portion of their workweek on repetitive manual tasks. In...

Is It Time to Hire an Operations Management Consultant?

If your business has a problem or obstacle you can’t solve — a slowdown in throughput, trouble on the line, machinery problems, supply chain...

How a Little Goes a Long Way in Operations Management

A little goes a long way. It's an old adage, but one we've seen play out, day after day, during our 55-plus years in the consulting business. It's...

Manufacturing | Data Archiving Strategy | Operational Efficiency | Data Security | Financial benefit

The Importance of Data Archiving in Improving Operational Efficiency

As businesses continue to produce massive amounts of data in today's world, effectively managing and leveraging this information has become a major...

3 Ways to Maximize Yield in Food Processing to Achieve Higher Profits

In the food processing industry, the name of the game isn’t necessarily doing more with less, although that’s a powerful goal. For many companies,...

How Supply Chain Technology is Improving the Customer Journey

Supply chain technology has come a long way in the past few years. Improvements in AI technology and deep learning programs can help supply chain...

Operations Management Consultants vs Internal Improvement Teams: What's the Difference?

If your company is looking for process improvements, greater efficiency, operations upgrades and generally a greasing of the gears in order to...

What's Good for Consumer Goods Manufacturing?

What's on the road ahead for consumer goods manufacturing? Although the industry is multifaceted and varied, encompassing everything from household...

6 Pros and Cons of Operations Management Consultants

If your business is experiencing challenges with processes and operations, it isn't as efficient as it should be, or if you are striving to...

5 Life Sciences Trends Breathing Life into the Industry

What's ahead for the life sciences industry? One word: Growth. Like the focused medical industry, this larger category of all things related to...

How to Address Burnout in Stressed Supply Chain Teams

There’s no question that these last few years have been difficult for businesses worldwide. The profound and far-ranging impacts of the COVID-19...

The How-Why Gap: Your Connection for Organizational Alignment (infographic)

Asking the question, “What’s your why?” has become fashionable to the point of cliché. The intent is to explore purpose and personal meaning. In...

Process Improvements in Healthcare: The Right Care for Your Operations

The healthcare industry is in the midst of change and challenges, driven by a triple-whammy of technological innovation, the pandemic and the...

U.S. Ports Have Radically Reduced Turnaround Times – What That Means for Your Shipments

It's no secret to most that since the COVID-19 pandemic began, there have been unprecedented economic and logistical disruptions experienced on a...

Digitizing the B2B Industry: Getting Ahead of Digital Transformation Trends

Adapting to new trends often comes in waves. We'd prefer if we could pace ourselves and anticipate new technology, but it's never that simple in a...

Manufacturing Challenges 2023: How to Join the Resurgence

The COVID-era supply chain disruptions are slowly but surely easing up for manufacturers around the globe. While the worldwide market is not yet...

The Supply Chain Risk Management Playbook: Navigating an Uncertain Future

In many industries, globalization has resulted in the consolidation of suppliers and increasingly interdependent Supply Chains. Globalization has...

Manufacturing Cycle Time: What It Is and How To Improve It

In most business settings, time is measured by hours and days — how long will it take to receive a proposal, mockup sheet or important...

How Upskilling Your Employees Can Create a Stronger Organization

Knowledge is power, right? The problem? Most working professionals learn the majority of what they will ever know about their chosen profession...

Supply Chain Analytics: How It Guides Data-Driven Decision Making (infographic)

Supply chain analytics refers to the collection of data and information that provide insights into logistics performance, from inventory management...

How Software and Modern Tech are Changing Manufacturing Industries

The manufacturing industry is one of the most important sectors across the world. It’s instrumental in supporting a thriving economy, provides jobs...

Looking Under the Hood: What's Ahead for the Automotive Industry in 2023?

The automotive industry outlook shows it travelling down the road toward another challenging year. The global supply chain is still reeling from...

What Supply Chain Executives Can Expect in 2023

Supply chain executives dealt with a variety of headaches over the past two years. Disruptions, delays, workarounds and all-out stoppages became...

How Data Mining Can Be Beneficial for the Supply Chain

Since Covid people who never heard the term “supply chain” have become painfully aware of what it means and how deeply it impacts their lives. It...

Do's and Don'ts for Achieving Supply Chain Optimization

The global supply chain is a delicate framework in which every participating business needs to stay nimble and adaptable — because, as we saw...

Upscaling Your Warehouse’s Organizational Processes with AI

If the ongoing supply chain crisis has taught us anything, it’s the critical importance of optimizing warehousing processes. However, managing a...

Culture Change: Why It's So Important to Lean Success

Leo Tolstoy once said: "Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself." How true that is. Sure, he was talking about...

ExynAero vs Traditional CMS: A Study of Mining's Top Innovations

In September of 2022, autonomous aerial robot systems pioneer Exyn Technologies engaged USC Consulting Group to perform an independent evaluation...

It’s Time for Manufacturers to Prepare for the Holiday Season

Yes, it's that time again. The holiday season is around the corner and it is time for manufacturers to start preparing now. Most holiday sales will...

A Guide to Creating a Safe and Efficient Warehouse (infographic)

Given that powerful equipment and trucks frequently operate close to one another, warehousing is one of the riskier industries. Rapid growth in...

Stop The Fire Fighting Mentality to Improve Your Bottom Line (video)

Are you always putting out fires? Not in the literal sense, of course. We're talking about operational problems that pop up at the most...

Due Diligence Pays off for Private Equity Firms in M&A Mode

When two companies engage in the mergers and acquisitions dance, negotiating price and signing a letter of intent is simply the start of the...

How to Protect Manufacturers and Supply Chains from Cyber Attacks

Cybersecurity is a concern for every business in today’s market. It’s not so much about if you’ll be the target of a data breach, but when....

What Are the Top Supply Chain KPIs to Measure Today?

The supply chain refers to all activities involved in converting raw materials to finished products and getting the finished products to the final...

Top 3 Challenges for the Building Products Industry (and What to Do About Them)

Like most industries today, the building products industry is faced with a host of challenges. These uncertain economic times aren't helping...

Constructing the Building Products Industry: An Outlook of Challenges and Solutions (eBook)

It's a double-edged sword for the building products industry today. The production and demand slump during the pandemic has turned into a boom....

The Top 5 Manufacturing Issues Keeping Executives Up at Night (infographic)

What's keeping manufacturing CEOs up at night? From supply chain disruptions to a disengaged workforce and growing skills gap, there are challenges...

The Benefits of Implementing ERP to Maximize Warehouse Productivity

In the modern era, being aware of the latest technology can provide unique benefits for your business, no matter your industry. When it comes to ...

9 Best Practices for Preventing Employee Data Loss

Data loss, one of the most detrimental disasters, can affect any company, regardless of its size, industry, or location. When a corporation is...

How to Be More Productive in Manufacturing According to the Experts

With a potential recession looming, inflation and interest rates rising, and the post-pandemic surge in consumer confidence slowing, productivity...

Oil & Gas Industry Issues and Opportunities for Today and Tomorrow

From supply chain disruptions to fluctuating demand, the past few years have caused a ripple-like wave of challenges throughout businesses across...

7 Major Routine Maintenance Problems to Avoid At All Costs (infographic)

Minor snags in routine equipment maintenance procedures seem harmless, but can create enormous problems in your operations. Besides slowing down...

Stop the Firefighting Mentality with an Effective Management Operating System

Does it seem like you're always putting out fires? Not in the literal sense, of course. We're talking about operations problems and snafus that...

4 Ways Manufacturers Can Build Resilience in an Economic Downturn

The manufacturing industry is foundational to today’s modern global economy. Without an efficient, high-performing manufacturing sector, life would...

Supervisor Training: Insider Tips for Management Skills Development

If you think it's just newbies on the job who need training, think again. At USC Consulting Group, we've learned the importance of training,...

Best Supply Chain Essentials Every Manager Must Follow

Supply chain management is a crucial part of every business, which has a wide range of effects, from the streamlined transfer of goods and services...

What the Pandemic Has Taught Us About Supply Chains

Supply chain disruptions were the cause of significant chaos during the early stages of the pandemic. Product shortages and price hikes made...

What's Keeping You Up at Night? The Main Concerns of Top Executives

Slowly but surely, consumers are returning to the marketplace in full force after a number of tumultuous years. According to Industry Week,...

6 Time-Saving Tips That Will Improve Any Warehouse

Warehouses are at the core of order fulfillment. The quality of your delivery can only be as good as the extent of your warehouse’s efficiency. If...

8 Change Management Best Practices to Ensure Sustainability

Change management - how do you define it and why is it such a popular term these days? The BNET Business Directory calls change management "the...

How William Conquered Labor Shortages and the Growing Skills Gap (video)

William is the newly promoted COO at Acme Widget Company. He recently conquered his operational issues by improving efficiency and increasing...

How Manufacturers Can Attract Young Talent to Survive The Great Resignation

One of the most significant threats facing the manufacturing industry is the ongoing labor shortage and how it’s impacting organizations across the...

Components of an eCommerce Distribution Center Warehouse Design (infographic)

There was a time when the company warehouse was a forlorn shed in the middle of nowhere, a spot where overstock items, customer returns, and...

The Consultant's Guide to Overcoming Today's Manufacturing Challenges (white paper)

Supply chain disruption. Layoffs. The Great Resignation. Hiring wars. The past few years have not been smooth sailing for the manufacturing...

How to Break Down Organizational Silos Across Your Value Chain

We've all heard the term "silo" used to describe insular work groups. Organizational silos may be high functioning within themselves, but they...

Debunking Myths about Operations Management Consulting: Part 2

There are a lot of myths swirling around out there about operations management consulting. At USC Consulting Group, we (good-naturedly) take issue...

Reshoring: It’s Time to Bring the Work Back Home

Reshoring, or the idea of bringing manufacturing services and supplies back to the United States from overseas, has been bandied about in...

The Benefits of Computer-Aided Design and Computer-Aided Manufacturing

It’s almost impossible to imagine a company that doesn’t rely on Computer-Aided Design (CAD) or Computer-Aided Manufacturing (CAM) this day and...

6 Benefits of Executives Walking the Floor & Engaging Your People

When's the last time you walked the shop floor and engaged with your people who get the job done on the line day after day? If you're a manager,...

Inventory Management: Finding the Right Balance in this Storied Drama

Remember the familiar line from an old TV cop show: "There are 8 million stories in the Naked City"? As USC Consulting Group's Vice President and...

4 Strategies to Optimize Warehouse Operations for Business Success

Warehouse operations are the foundation of any company that processes and ships orders. An efficient warehouse means that you're optimizing labor...

6 Strategies to Help Manufacturers Win the Hiring Wars

There's no sugar-coating it. It's tough out there for manufacturers on the front lines of the hiring wars. We are in an unprecedented...

5 Manufacturing Systems & Their Benefits - Which is Right for Your Business?

Not every manufacturer has the same needs. As a result, various manufacturing systems and approaches have been developed, each with its own...

Manufacturing Challenges for 2022 and Strategies to Handle Them

After a couple of difficult years, manufacturing is roaring back in the U.S. There's a lot to be optimistic about. Consumers are consuming again,...

The Story of William the Conqueror: Savior of Operational Improvements (infographic)

Everyday we set out to conquer life in various ways. We conquer fears, objections, and challenges. It is how we overcome these obstacles that...

William the Conqueror - Savior of Operational Improvements (video)

This is the story of William the Conqueror. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ND84djEunoo No, not the 11th century figure, but William the Vice...

How to Increase Employee Engagement and Training to Improve Retention

If the Great Resignation has hit your company, leaving you short-staffed and scrambling to fill open positions, you're not alone. An average of 4...

Benefits of Embracing Technology in Warehouse Management

As long as we have transported goods from place to place, we have had to figure out how to keep track of those goods. Warehouse management is the...

6 Tips for Crafting the Perfect Operations Manager Resume

It seems most people struggle when it comes to creating an effective resume. People don’t seem to like to talk about their personal and...

Lean vs. Six Sigma: Which Methodology is Better?

If you're in manufacturing, you've certainly heard of two process methodologies, Lean and Six Sigma. Lean, which has been around forever and has...

Lean Six Sigma: Do You Really Know These Methodologies? (eBook)

How well do you know Lean? The concept is nothing new. Pioneered back in the day by Toyota... or by Henry Ford even earlier, depending on who you...

How To Put Together Your In-Plant Wireless Communication Network

Communication in your manufacturing plant is essential, as all workers need to be able to handle deliveries, potential safety hazards, and more....

Debunking Myths About Operations Management Consulting

Operations management consulting is a discipline designed to improve your company's internal operations and processes, making them more efficient,...

What is Operations Consulting and Can It Help My Business?

What is operations consulting, what do operations consultants do, and how might it benefit your business? If you have questions, we have answers....

How to Use CNC Machining to Upgrade Your Manufacturing Process

Succeeding in the manufacturing industry today often means capitalizing on technology. As the sector grows increasingly competitive and...

Signs It’s Time to Update Your Business Software & How to Upgrade

Technology is essential for business tasks like tracking manufacturing and distribution, managing inventory and the supply chain, and handling...

5 Guidelines for Sustainable Operations Management Today

The competition has become sky-high and relentless across all major industries. Pricing is a race to the bottom, resources are harder than ever to...

How Medical Device Manufacturers Can Overcome Disruption to Save Lives

Imagine a scenario in which there is unprecedented demand for the products you manufacture, but disruptions in the supply chain are making it...

4 Ways to Reduce Human Errors and Accidents On The Plant Floor

Production involves different processes that run concurrently or independently, with operators and technicians handling several tasks at one go....

5 Solutions for Mitigating Disruptive Supply Chains (infographic)

Disruptive supply chains cause uncertainty. This leads to disjointed internal functions and frustration. And although there have been significant...

Navigating Supply Shortages in Manufacturing - 3 Steps to Allay the Impact

Manufacturers have had an uneasy past two years. Disruptions early in the pandemic nearly brought production to a halt in some areas, and now,...

How to Avoid Supply Chain Disruptions - An Interview with David Newman (video)

Supply chain disruptions have been a major challenge for manufacturers, and show no signs of abating. Here, David Newman, Supply Chain Practice...

Moving Logistics Forward from the Great Bottleneck of 2021: Part 2

In part 1 of this blog series about logistics, we talked about the state of the industry today. Summed up in one word: Chaos. We who work with...

Moving Logistics Forward from the Great Bottleneck of 2021: Part 1

When is the last time you can remember logistics dominating the headlines? Rarely has this industry gotten this much press. That's because the...

6 Opportunities for Manufacturers to Be Greener and More Sustainable

The eco-conscious movement is influencing a sustainable transition for manufacturers in the industrial sector. Higher demands for green products...

How to Combat Labor Shortages and Skills Gaps in Food Manufacturing

The food and beverage manufacturing industry is facing labor shortages. While labor challenges aren't new to the industry, the reasons for this...

4 Technologies Trending for Building Materials Manufacturers

Challenges like growing demand for sustainable practices, rising raw material costs, and a volatile construction market have forced the building...

5 Strategies for Hiring and Retaining Talent in Manufacturing

Are you having trouble hiring or retaining talent? Not surprising. Our economy, no matter the industry you're in, is experiencing a hiring crunch...

How eCommerce Trends are Changing Manufacturing Operations

The eCommerce industry is one of only a few business models that have thrived amidst the financial uncertainty of COVID-19. eCommerce did more than...

How to Overcome the Current Demand Crunch and Thrive in Today's Market

Demand is back. After many industries saw customer demand dry up during the pandemic, it is surging like it hasn't in a long time. Consumers are...

Is the Just-in-Time (JIT) Manufacturing Model Dead?

Did the unprecedented supply chain disruptions caused by the pandemic kill the just-in-time (JIT) manufacturing model? We'd like to come out with a...

Strategies for Meeting Increasing Customer Demand (white paper)

If you have noticed — or, in many cases, been run over by — dramatically increasing customer demand for your products, you're not alone. Now that...

What are the Benefits and Challenges of Preventive Maintenance?

Are you performing preventive maintenance on a regular basis? If you're not, you may want to consider adding it to your schedule. Why? In a word,...

SaaS in Manufacturing: How It’s Changing the Industry

Thanks to cloud and edge computing, SaaS — software as a service — has become a highly transformative technology in both manufacturing and the...

Change Management: Why It's Necessary to Become More Agile

The only thing that's constant is change. It's a phrase famously attributed to a Greek philosopher in 500 B.C., but it also sums up the past year...

Examining COVID's Impact on the Pulp and Paper Industry - What's Ahead?

Every industry on the planet was impacted in some way by COVID-19, but pulp and paper really had a wild ride. Disruptions in the supply chain...

Food & Beverage Industry Outlook: What Will the Latter Half of 2021 Bring?

As America dusts off and gets back to business as usual, what can the food and beverage industry expect to find on the road ahead for the latter...

Symphony or Cacophony? Noisy Shop Floors and What They Mean for Health and Safety

If you take in the expanse of a shop floor from a high vantage point, you’ll quickly be reminded of how much coordination is required to keep the...

Uncovering Hidden Opportunities in Your Operations (Infographic)

After 50+ years in the operations management consulting business, USC has become skilled detectives at finding hidden opportunities in our clients’...

Uncovering Hidden Opportunities for Efficiency and Productivity (video)

Do you know what’s preventing your operations from being more efficient? Find the clues that will tell you where to look. The key to doing more...

6 Steps to Overcoming Supply Chain Challenges in 2021

Most of the challenges supply chain players face in today’s market are related to the pandemic and economic shutdowns. Even so, they’re no...

Sales, Inventory & Operations Planning: It's About Time (eBook)

S&OP is a business management process that involves sales forecast reports, planning for demand and supply, and other factors. The goal is to help...

Understanding & Improving Quality Control in Manufacturing

For Manufacturers, Quality Control Should Be Sales MVP For companies that manufacture products of any kind, there is a direct link between quality...

How & When to Update a Legacy System in Manufacturing

If you find yourself attached to your legacy software and hardware in your manufacturing operation, you’re not alone. Old habits die hard, as they...

Design For Manufacturing — The Essentials and Benefits of DFM (infographic)

In manufacturing, working smarter is the key to reducing costs, improving quality, expanding sales and maximizing operational profitability. An...

How Maximizing Efficiencies Can Minimize Supply Chain Disruption

The majority of businesses, especially manufacturers, have been experiencing among the worst supply chain disruptions they've seen in a long time,...

Did Your Company Plan for the Pandemic to End? If Not, It's Not Too Late

How do you plan for the future when you’re just trying to get through the present? A present filled with crisis, uncertainty and wildly fluctuating...

Can Better Planning Make Manufacturing Disruption-proof?

The planning and forecasting process has always been a vital part of manufacturing, but now, after a roller coaster of a year, it's becoming clear...

5 Ways to Create a Safer Workplace for Your Employees

Workplace injuries are frighteningly common. While incident rates have declined over time, there were 2.8 million nonfatal workplace accidents in...

Cybersecurity in Shipping Logistics: The Rising Threat

When you think of shipping and transportation, perhaps the last thing you consider is the threat that cybercrime can pose to the industry. However,...

A Look Into the Future of Manufacturing: Which Changes Will Be Permanent?

In 2020, business as usual was thrown out the window. Companies in all industries needed to make changes on a dime. For manufacturing, that meant...

Discover Operational Efficiency Gold by Finding Hidden Opportunities

Process improvement. We haven't met a company yet that doesn't want to do more with what they already have, do it better, more efficiently and more...

The Important Role of Data Mining in Supply Chain Operations

When businesses begin to scale, many of the challenges they face result from added operational complexity and lack of visibility. As organizations...

Looking to Grow Post-COVID? Think Operations Efficiency and Continuous Improvement

What is your vision for a post-COVID future for your company? Our country and the world are going to come out of this pandemic, ideally sooner...

How to Automate COVID-19 Safety Protocols

Vaccine rollout is well underway in the U.S., painting a positive picture for the future. Still, it will take time for everyone to be fully...

How to Preserve Institutional Knowledge for Future Operational Success

Institutional knowledge. It's a hot topic these days, especially with increasing numbers of baby boomers entering retirement age. Added to that,...

5 Tips to Increase Industrial and Manufacturing Safety

The industrial and manufacturing sector is most affected by workplace accidents. Statistics show that at least 100,000 workers in the manufacturing...

Working with USC Consulting Group - The Experienced Operations Management Firm (video)

At USC Consulting Group, we are an experienced operations management firm that is proud to say we've been in business for more than 50 years. Not...

The Warehouse of the Future is Being Molded by Technology

When the general public hears the word “warehouse,” they most likely envision a rather low-tech environment. After all, a warehouse is but a large...

The State of Manufacturing Operations: Then, Now and What Comes Next

"Never let a good crisis go to waste." — Winston Churchill Churchill said this famous line as World War II neared its end. It's inspiring for many...

Why Supply Chain Improvement is Vital Now to Your Operations

If you're like most manufacturers, your supply chain has been disrupted by COVID-19, especially if much of that supply came from China or Southeast...

New Challenges to Operational Efficiencies Because of COVID Protocols

We're all aware of the fact that COVID-19 has changed life as we know it in this country (and the world). Because of this pandemic, there is a new...

6 Operational Excellence Strategies to Score the Touchdown Every Time (video)

All championship-caliber teams are able to transfer plays on a chalkboard to game winning performances on the field. There is a strategy laid out...

6 Plays That Can Drive Your Business to Operational Excellence (infographic)

In the ongoing pursuit of operational excellence, do you feel like it's 1st and goal or 4th and long? The challenges you encounter in business can...

Challenges for the Metals Industry - How USC Consulting Group Can Help (eBook)

If you’re in the metals industry, you don’t need us to tell you what your challenges are. You’re living them every day, whether it’s your supply...

Demand management: When demand exceeds your ability to produce, what can be done?

What do you do when your demand is greater than your ability to meet it? This is one of the big issues some of our clients in the metals industry...

Why Automotive Manufacturers Need to Rev Up Production Immediately

It's been a bumpy ride for the automotive industry this past year. Back in November and December when the economy was running full speed ahead,...

How Consulting is Different in the Age of COVID

COVID-19 has changed every workplace to varying degrees. Some industries, like hospitality, have experienced wholesale change. Others have shifted,...

How Building Product Manufacturers Can Bounce Back in 2021

COVID-19 has been a take-no-prisoners virus. In mere months, thousands of businesses have folded in a variety of industries or are on the verge of...

5 Ways Automation is Changing Manufacturing Today

The trend towards automation is progressing all the time. With the advent of COVID-19 creating employment concerns amid a changing workforce, the...

5 Reasons Why You Need to Stick with Lean Manufacturing Principles

There are a host of different philosophies that business owners adopt to effectively manage their organizations. One of the most successful and...

“Never Break the Chain” - 5 Ways to Mend a Broken Supply Chain (infographic)

The driving drum beat in the popular rock tune “The Chain” by Fleetwood Mac is reminiscent of production’s TAKT time drum beat set by customer...

Why Getting Buy-In From Frontline Employees is Key

Nobody knows the job better than your frontline employees. So, when you're instituting new efficiencies to improve the processes and procedures...

13 Lessons Learned From the Experiences of Self-Made Billionaires

To help companies reach their highest potential, executives need to understand the challenges that come with owning and operating a business....

4 Best Ways Manufacturers Can Perfect Their Supply Chain

After a highly tumultuous beginning to the new decade, the economy is taking an unanticipated turn for the better. Economic experts forecasted...

Are Industry 4.0 and Lean Manufacturing Mutually Exclusive?

Lean manufacturing and Industry 4.0 are in some ways a case in contrasts. The former is a production methodology designed to reduce operational...

The Most Advanced Logistics Industry Thanks To Technology

The last couple of decades have seen some significant changes affecting the logistics industry, and the supply chain as a whole. New regulations to...

How Frozen Food Manufacturers are Thriving During the COVID-19 Crisis

Fresh or frozen? When it comes to choosing between the two types of food, fresh has held the distinct advantage, uniformly advocated by both health...

How to Bridge the Manufacturing Skills Gap

Even the most bearish of economists couldn't have predicted the degree to which the nation's economy has changed in a mere six months, let alone...

A Global Shift for Manufacturers: Industries with Increased Demand

It is difficult to put into exact figures the effects the coronavirus pandemic has had on global industry. However, with manufacturers and supply...

How Can Paper Producers Rise to the Production Challenge?

The novel coronavirus has produced a lot of uncertainty, and for manufacturers in the pulp and paper industry, that includes uncertainty related to...

6 Game Winning Strategies for Continuous Improvement (infographic)

In sports, what separates the top teams from the middle of the pack? In business, what gives the edge to one organization over another? Continuous...

Consumer Demand Variability Biggest Supply Chain Disruption, Execs say

There are many phrases that come to mind when one thinks of the coronavirus pandemic: terms like "social distancing," "new normal," and "flatten...

Asset Performance Management - The Fundamentals of an Effective APM Plan

A proper Asset Performance Management (APM) plan ensures that your critical revenue-producing assets operate smoothly, efficiently, and at or near...

Pandemic success stories: What can be learned from these triumphs?

The steady, daily drumbeat of negative news in March and April was hard to ignore. From rising unemployment rates to businesses large and small...

How Manufacturers Can Restart or Ramp Up Operations Safely and Effectively

With all 50 states now in some phase of reopening, people all around the country are realizing what financial and health officials warned early on,...

Root Cause Analysis: A Guide to Making Corrective Actions

One of the most effective methods of analyzing operational breakdowns is to conduct a Root Cause Analysis (RCA). Some of the data needed in order...

Planned Maintenance: Converting Unplanned Work to Increase Uptime

As a typical rule of thumb in maintenance, planned work will consume roughly one third of the resources (labor cost, materials cost, and costs...

Why Continuous Improvement Is as Important as Ever

If within the last couple of months you've found yourself longing for what life used to be like, you're most definitely not alone. March ushered in...

Food and Beverage Industry Reevaluating Strategies to Combat Coronavirus

It is a delicate balance to run a business in times of economic uncertainty. On one hand, you want to be optimistic, but on the other, you must...

A Safe State of Mind is a Service in the Workplace

Being aware of safety principles does not materially improve one’s safety, but being in the right state of mind does. In other words, talking about...

How The Food and Beverage Sector Has Been Affected by a Global Crisis

The food and beverage industry is vast, with both online and offline supply chains. This industry includes companies that work in processing raw...

How the Pandemic Has Cast a Spotlight Emphasizing Contingency Planning

These past several weeks have been a whirlwind for pretty much the entire world. The novel coronavirus - which has led to more than 3,020,000...

Supply Chain Management: How Businesses Can Increase Resilience and Mitigate Disruption

Nearly as soon as confirmed cases of coronavirus began growing in the U.S., abnormal became the new normal. Schools have shut down across the...

12 Items You Need in Your Manufacturing Productivity Toolbox

The story of the manufacturing industry has been one of progress. Few manufacturers continue to produce the same products as they did in their...

Sales, Inventory & Operations Planning - What It Is and How to Operate

Sales, Inventory & Operations Planning (SIOP) is a dynamic process in which the company’s operating plan is updated on a regular monthly or more...

The Future of the Trucking Industry: What it Means for Manufacturing

Once one of America’s most respected professions, truck driving now generally struggles to be seen in a positive light. Instead of being seen as a...

Coronavirus impeding supply chains worldwide

For as much as the novel coronavirus has saturated the headlines over the last month or so, several aspects of the contagion remains shrouded in...

How to Increase Productivity and Safety with Workplace Automation

No manufacturing company can reach its full potential unless its people and assets are kept safe. Any accident, no matter how small, can seriously...

Energy efficiency: Are fossil fuels or renewables the more reliable source?

The desire for a cleaner planet is an impulse that virtually everyone shares. The question is how to go about that. Based on two recent polls from...

Master the Continuous Improvement Process with the USC Playbook (video)

Score operational excellence in your business by embracing the continuous improvement process. Here's the story... The Ice Kings are struggling....

Understanding The Challenges Facing Modern Food And Beverage Producers (eBook)

If there's one certain thing about the food and beverage industry, it's the fact that nothing is certain - not when it comes to trends, anyway....

4 Food and Beverage Manufacturing Trends on Tap for 2020

It's the food and beverage industry's job to appeal to consumer tastes by keeping tabs on what's hot and what's not. In the 1990s, for instance,...

5 Reminders Along Your Digital Transformation Journey

Few innovations have so saturated modern society quite as much as digital has. Perhaps the best example of all is in the consumer products space....

Is Your Ego Too Big For Your Business? (infographic)

Some amount of ego can be beneficial to your organization. It can portray a sense of confidence and gravitas. However, too much ego can be toxic....

Embracing Continuous Improvement: Strategies for Organizations Seeking Sustained Advancement (eBook)

"This is the way we've always done it." Have you been guilty of uttering these detrimental words? Unfortunately, this strategy is unsustainable for...

Continued Growth Expected for Paper and Pulp Industry in 2020 and Beyond

The events of 2019 may have seemed like a continuation of the same old story, as paper products appear to be in use less and less. The examples are...

The Role of Operational Excellence in the 2010s to Today

The 2010s are now a memory. Every decade has its fair share of ups and downs, but by most measures, this past decade was a good one for much of the...

With 'Fresh Eyes,' Consultants Can Help Improve Organizational Efficiency

At many organizations, managers often opt to come up with new ideas or solutions to dilemmas using their own resources and employees, rather than...

How Can A Management Operating System Help Your Organization?

As organizations today have become ever more reliant on networks and other systems that run using 21st century data-driven technology, one way in...

What's the Solution to Power Outage Proliferation

They happen every year in California and throughout much of the Pacific Northwest: wildfires. According to the Interagency Fire Center, 8.2 million...

What To Look For in a Digital Transformation Consultant

Digital technologies have revolutionized the world in countless ways. From the items people wear to the devices they keep in their pockets, there's...

Good Training Can Help Middle Management be Top Achievers

While competitive salary and benefits are great incentives for workers to achieve and perform at their best, they want something more than good...

How To Create a Safe and Efficient Warehouse (infographic)

Manufacturers are always on the lookout for ways to strengthen their supply chains and warehouses. But while they probably pay close attention to...

The Unequivocal Benefits of Diversity in the Workplace

The United States is truly a melting pot of ideas, concepts, and opinions from people with different beliefs systems, ages, genders, and cultural...

The Principle Elements of Sales and Operations Planning

Maintaining a sustainable manufacturing facility is no ordinary task. At times, the difficulty of it can seem like a high-wire act. In fact, were...

Why It's Been a Bumpy Road for the Electric Car Industry

The electric car industry has seen its fair share of bumps in the road. In 2008, Tesla introduced the world to the Tesla Roadster, the first...

4 Forces Catalyzing Change in the Mining and Metals Industry

The times they are a-changin. If there was one song that could best describe the current state of the mining and metals industry, the 1964 classic...

The Anatomy of the Kaizen Method and How to Apply It in Your Workplace

In Spanish, it's "mejora." In Polish, it's "melhoria." In Norwegian, it's "forbedring." No matter how you say it, they all mean the same thing:...

Supply Chain Management Challenges All Businesses Need to Understand

Sustained marketplace success and effective supply chain management go hand-in-hand. Why? Organizations that cultivate and maintain reliable yet...

Top 10 Organizational Mistakes That Limit Your Warehouse Management (infographic)

The supply chain is a business’s lifeblood. Unfortunately, much like our own bodies, it’s possible for this system to become sluggish and lethargic...

Understanding the Challenges Facing Aerospace and Defense Manufacturing Firms

Businesses navigating the global aerospace and defense sector reached new heights in 2018, generating record revenues and laying the foundation for...

3 Technologies Transforming Modern Manufacturing Techniques

The U.S. economy is experiencing a period of job growth. The unemployment rate is at a low last seen more than 50 years ago, according to...

Uncork Manufacturing Bottlenecks for Optimized Production

In life, bottlenecks crop up from time to time; moments where we're stuck and can't push through a problem. Patience may be the only remedy. In the...

Waste Not, Want Not: 9 Ways Food Manufacturers Can Optimize

Fresh, frozen, canned, or packaged, food supply chain deliverables comes in many forms, distributed to grocery chains, convenience stores, and...

The Psychology of Change Management: Breaking Down the Five Stages

Abraham Lincoln once suggested that if you really want to test a person's character, give them power, rather than adversity. But what about...

Preventive Maintenance: Unpacking the Cost Equation

The preventive maintenance methodology has become industry standard. An estimated 80% of asset and facilities stakeholders now leverage preventive...

Change for the Better: What Kaizen can do for you

Continuous improvement — this is the dream for forward-thinking shop floor stakeholders across all industries. However, few manage to facilitate...

A Legacy of Milestones: USC Consulting Group’s History to Empower Performance

It is easy to imagine that in a company’s history there would be a few monumental events that occur. Milestones that transcend a company to a...

Empowering Performance: The Story of USC Consulting Group (video)

Empowering. Performance. Separately, the two words embrace strength and determination. However, together they embody the passion and promise one...

How Metal Service Centers Can Achieve Process Optimization

The worldwide metal marketplace is changing. Numerous economic forces — most notably, dwindling economic stimulus packages, expiring automotive...

Going Green: Sustainability's Effect on the Chemical Industry

Sustainability ranks among the most discussed concepts of the past decade — and for good reason. Everyone from the blue-collar breadwinner to the...

How the Pulp and Paper Industry is Optimizing for Success

Pulp and paper producers worldwide are expected to experience modest growth through Q3 2019, per Moody's Investor Services, which predicted...

3 Reasons Why Now is Always the Right Time for Process Improvement

"It is just not the right time." Business leaders bring out this all-too-common excuse when confronted with the notion of process improvement,...

Unpacking the Airplane Maintenance Equation: Strategies for Improving Aircraft Availability

More than 43,000 commercial aircraft navigate American airspace daily, shuttling an estimated 2.6 million passengers among airports here and...

Understanding Predictive and Preventive Maintenance for Heavy Asset Optimization

Heavy production assets are ubiquitous across numerous industries, from residential construction to mining. Keeping this mission-critical equipment...

Private Equity Value Creation: Increase yield and EBITDA through leveraging consultants (eBook)

Available financing and an abundance of dry powder in the Private Equity sector has recently increased the volume of deals and generated the...

Reducing Risk in the Private Equity Investment Journey

The private equity industry has experienced immense growth in recent years. Firms worldwide raised almost $1 trillion throughout 2017 and 2018 as...

Handling Environmental Variables in the Logistics and Transportation Sector

Transportation and logistics organizations quite literally propel the modern marketplace, underpinning product and service delivery workflows...

Has Value-Based Health Care Changed the Life Sciences Industry?

In March 2010, then President Barack Obama signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and ushered in the era of value-based...

Food and beverage trends for 2019: Convenience, safety and more

The global food and beverage industry is poised for significant growth in 2019. Total revenues in the space are expected to surpass $1 trillion...

Piecing the Parts Together: Glue for the Building Materials Industry (video)

From the ground up, USC Consulting Group helps building material manufacturers solve their sourcing problems, fine-tune their operations and...

Every Part Has a Purpose (Part 2): Building Materials Manufacturers Power U.S. Housing (infographic)

In the blog Every Part Has a Purpose: Building Materials Manufacturing, we learned about a few of the challenges that the American housing market...

Every Part Has a Purpose: Building Materials Manufacturing

From foundation concrete to tile adhesive, the average house contains many different components. Building materials manufacturers are, of course,...

Understanding the Importance of Strategic Sourcing

An important lever for modern organizations. Sourcing is a key component of your Supply Chain - perhaps the most important part. As companies are...

Navigate Internal Improvement Programs With A Strategic Roadmap

Modern businesses in almost every sector regularly greenlight operational improvement projects - internal initiatives designed to address serious...

4 Ways to Achieve Operational Excellence in the New Year

Executives and shop-floor stakeholders have been pursuing operational excellence for decades, but a fraction of these industrial idealists have...

What Does It Take To Make Sourcing Truly Strategic?

Marketplace pressures have forced procurement professionals to abandon traditional sourcing practices and implement more responsive strategies...

3 Challenges Facing the American Forestry Industry

With approximately 765 million acres of woodland, America ranks among the most forested nations, according to research from the U.S. Forest...

Leaders and Egos: Check It at the Door

Professionals who ascend to the heights of their respective industries often develop healthy egos on their way up. An inflated sense of...

Microsoft Power BI + USC Consulting Group = Mining Gold

USC Consulting Group is a world-class operations management firm that for the past 50 years has helped mining companies around the globe improve...

The Ins and Outs of Manufacturing Around the Holidays

This holiday season, American consumers are expected to spend more than $720 billion, an increase of nearly 5 percent over sales figures from 2017,...

How Free-From Foods are Changing Food and Beverage Manufacturing

Food and beverage trends leave lasting marks on production best practices, but one recent development could very well transform operational...

3 Ways to Optimize Costs in Pulp and Paper Manufacturing

Marketplace forces are transforming the pulp and paper manufacturing space, from mass digitization to the maturation of the paperless movement....

Outsourcing Rationalization: Where to Begin Building Strategic Partnerships

No organization operates in a vacuum. Economic developments and technological advancement have prompted businesses across all industries to...

3 Operational Challenges That Prevent Food and Beverage Digitization

Businesses across multiple industries have embraced digital transformation (DX) technologies. In fact, an estimated 89 percent of organizations...

How to Reduce Cycle Time in Metals Manufacturing

American metal manufacturers are moving forward with operational optimization efforts and seeing considerable results. In fact, labor productivity...

How Do I Measure the Effectiveness of Cross-Functional Collaboration?

No matter how you define it, diversity is important to every company, and every team within every company, looking to succeed. Cross-functional...

How Building Materials Manufacturers Can Address Rising Material Costs

Raw material costs continue to increase as a result of recent economic developments - most notably, the new tariffs on aluminum, steel and Canadian...

The Essentials of Project Management

Learn more about project management best practices. Every organization with major assets has different initiatives or projects it wants to pursue...

What is My Project Management Office Doing Wrong?

The project management office (PMO) is a common organizational feature among modern businesses. Eighty-five percent of enterprises have PMOs,...

Process Improvement | MOS | Financial benefit | Spend

CAPEX Control: An Operating System for Success

In recent years, businesses have scaled back capital expenditures. In 2015, American nonfarm businesses invested more than $1.6 trillion in new...

Supply Chain Management: How to Optimize the Process

Supply Chain Management encompasses many facets from acquiring raw materials to delivering to the consumer and each component is as important as...

5 Secrets to Driving Behavioral Change

Businesses seeking to improve internally often focus considerable energy on trying to transform shop-floor operations through the introduction of...

The Mine Management Operating System: A Foundation for Success

Define your mine management operating system and close the gaps in productivity and workflows. Mines are sprawling operations. Companies have to...

Shale Gas on the Rise: 3 Ways to Prepare Your Energy Company for Unprecedented Production Growth

Internal and external forces are catalyzing change in the global energy sector. From the development and implementation of cutting-edge operational...

China's Recent Tariffs are Affecting American Food Producers

In April the Chinese Ministry of Commerce announced tariffs on 128 American goods, including almost eight dozen food and beverage products. The...

Simplify Your Supply Chain with These 3 SKU Rationalization Tips

Modern retail organizations stock many different items to attract the widest audience of customers. But did you know that, according to the National...

Addressing Asset Management in Chemicals Manufacturing

The U.S. chemicals manufacturing space is poised for growth following years of middling performance. Worldwide economic development, improvements in...

How USC Consulting Group Enhances Your Internal Improvement Team

Organizations of all sizes now leverage continuous improvement programs to make the most of their workflows. Initiatives centered on revolutionary...

Understanding the Impact of the Canadian Newsprint Tariffs

The actions of one midsize paper producer could affect organizations across multiple industries, including the newspaper sector. This past fall, the...

Food as Medicine: How Holistic Dieting Will Affect Food and Beverage Processing

It is no secret that Americans have embraced healthier eating habits. Last year, analysts for the International Food Information Council Foundation...

M&A Activity in Oil and Gas: Will Consolidation Improve Production?

Energy companies across the globe have been forced to change their operational approaches in response to an evolving energy marketplace. Crude...

How an Operations Management Consulting Firm Achieves 50 Years of Success

USC Consulting Group, a global operations management consulting firm, achieves 50 years of empowering performance. But, what exactly does that mean?...

3 Myths About Overall Equipment Effectiveness

Overall equipment effectiveness is an essential key performance indicator for modern manufacturers. For a multi plant manufacturer the use of OEE...

4 Key KPIs for Modern Manufacturing Optimization

The American manufacturing space has experienced considerable improvement in recent years. Producers have embraced data-driven processes and...

Aluminum and Steel Tariffs: What Do They Mean for US Industry?

On March 8, President Donald Trump imposed sweeping new tariffs of 15 percent and 25 percent on aluminum and steel imports, respectively. Trump and...

US Chemical Safety Board On The Chopping Block For 2019 Budget

The Trump administration recently published its 2019 budget proposal, which includes deep spending cuts totaling hundreds of billions of dollars. The...

Process Improvement | Food & Beverage | Food Safety | food processing

Food and Beverage Trends Impacting Your Bottom Line

The food and beverage space continues to evolve in response to consumer demand, production innovation, and resource availability. Numerous sea...

3 Questions to Ask to Improve Maintenance Strategies for Open-pit Mining

Of the more than 62,000 employees working in American mines, over half staff maintenance departments, according to data from the National Institute...

Private Equity | Food & Beverage | Direct Costs | Sourcing | Indirect Costs

3 Evaluation Strategies for PE Firms Targeting Food and Beverage Acquisitions

What a time to be a private equity fund manager. According to Preqin, worldwide private equity holdings in 2016 reached a value of nearly $2.5...

Process Improvement | Project Management | Continuous Improvement Programs | Process Management

Would You Know A Culture Of Continuous Improvement If You Saw One?

People often talk about continuous improvement using nebulous terms, one of which is culture. To succeed, experts say, businesses must create a...

Why People Matter Most to Continuous Improvement

Is successful continuous improvement a top-down or bottom-up initiative? Ask lean manufacturing experts and they're likely to equivocate. It's not...

Prevent Allergen-Related Recalls with Intelligent Process Management

Recalls are on the rise in the food and beverage industry, but processors have the power to stem the tide by investing their time and energy into a...

Oil & Gas | Process Improvement | energy | Continuous Improvement Programs

Driving Continuous Improvement Through Energy's Most Transformative Years

The story of continuous improvement in U.S. energy has two alternate endings. Depending on the topic of conversation, the sector is either a poster...

3 KPIs All Oil and Gas Companies Need on Their Dashboards

No industrial business that hopes to turn a profit in the era of Industry 4.0 can do so without selecting the right key performance indicators...

Asset Management: The Rise of Reliability

Truly innovative asset management covers all aspects of monitoring, analyzing, and maintaining capital equipment. Does your business have all its...

Trouble at the Table: Challenges in the Food and Beverage Industry

Food and beverage companies need to meet customer expectations and optimize operational processes to succeed in a new market. However, not every...

Resolving Utilization Challenges with Asset Management

Asset-intensive industries have cautiously maintained their commitment to present and future major capital investments in the wake of the 2008...

Process Industries and CI: Where the Trouble Starts

Continuous Improvement (CI) for process industries can feel like trying to fix plumbing with the water turned on. No matter how carefully you...

Process Improvement | Inventory | Food & Beverage | Labor Planning | meat processing

Falling Meat Consumption Drives Processors to Think Creatively

Shifting consumer trends around meat have pushed businesses to rethink their processes. A recent study published by the Natural Resources Defense...

3 Reasons Why Oil and Gas Should Prioritize Continuous Improvement

In theory, the continuous improvement model encourages organizations to advance positive changes frequently and smoothly. But what about in practice?...

Manufacturing | product variation | Food & Beverage | marketing | Process Management

Can Soft Drink Manufacturers Stop Themselves from Fizzing Out?

Beverage manufacturers, particularly carbonated soft drink makers, will have a lot of big decisions to make in the coming year in order to prevent...

Cost Complications in Clay, Refractory, and Ceramics Manufacturing

Clay and refractory building materials and ceramics manufacturing saw hard-fought growth of 2.7 percent annually from 2011 to 2016, according to...

4 Valuable Opportunities Glass Manufacturers Should Consider

All businesses retain value one of two ways: capturing revenue at the right moment or avoiding costly risk before it hits company coffers. What...

Manufacturing | Labor Requirements | technology | construction | building products

Will Construction Decide the Fate of the Building Materials Industry in 2017?

It's easy to forget that, connected though they may be, building materials and construction are two distinct industries. That said, they almost...

Inventory | Food & Beverage | Indirect Costs

Is Your Food and Beverage Company Hungry for More Market Share?

Competition in the food and beverage industry has always been high. When one-sixth of every dollar produced by all U.S. industrial businesses comes...

Supply Chain | Supply Chain Management | strategic sourcing | Supply Chain Optimization | Spend

Signs of Mismanagement in Supply Chain Spend

Are 21st-century supply chains worth as much to manufacturers as the capital they invest in them? Here are a few indicators of supply chain spending...

Manufacturing | Building materials | building products | Innovation

3 Reasons Why Building Materials Manufacturers Fail to Innovate

Shelter is a basic human necessity, but in many parts of the world so is high-speed internet. Building materials manufacturers, as fundamental as...

Nutritional Labels Creating Controversy in Food and Beverage Processing

Who knew a little label could cause such a big commotion? Food and beverage labels in the U.S. will become battlegrounds over the next year as the...

Paper and Pulp: Where do we go from here?

What will be the future of paper in a world under conquest by paperless media? Inquiring mills around the world want to know. While the news...

The Future of Smelting Technology

How are American metallurgists doing these days? At a cursory glance, presumably well. The U.S. Geological Survey estimated the iron and steel...

Manufacturing | Efficiency | building products

HVAC Should Clear the Air on These Industry Challenges

Things are really heating up in the world of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning. According to analysis from Research and Markets, the U.S....

Meal Kits and Drink Taxes: Food and Beverage Complexity in 2017

The U.S. food and beverage industry will have a lot to chew on in 2017, but some challenges may be harder to swallow than others. Rise of the meal kit

Midstream Oil and Gas Process Optimization

Running a successful midstream oil and gas company can feel a lot like caring for a two-headed dog, one head for upstream operations and the other...

New Challenges for Hardwood Flooring Manufacturers

Companies manufacturing hardwood flooring have struggled to right themselves since the housing market crash in 2008. After all, when real estate...

Future Trends for Metal Producers

Like any other industry, metal manufacturing can benefit greatly from a reduction in operational expenses. Smarter, data-driven processes have the...

Appliance Makers: Watch These 3 Trends in 2017

The home appliance market has a lot to celebrate: As the housing market continues to recover - however slowly - new homeowners with disposable...

Eliminating Wasteful Operations in Food and Beverage Manufacturing

For such an integral commodity in the lives of hungry consumers, food and beverage manufacturers have a high potential for producing waste. A recent...

Impact of Consumer Habits on Cabinet Manufacturing

Home remodeling can serve utilitarian purposes as well as personal aesthetics. Because of this, market success for businesses that produce kitchen...

Continuous Processing: Will your Business Benefit?

Industries from biopharm to oil and gas are abuzz with praise for continuous processing technology and the advantages the model brings to their...

Plumbing Fixture Manufacturers Plan for Economic Changes

Out of all other home goods manufacturers, the plumbing fixture sector has perhaps the strongest ties to the economy. What does the current U.S....

Understanding the Hard Truths of Cement Production

In 2015, the U.S. cement industry alone produced more than 80 million tons of Portland cement and nearly 2.5 million tons of masonry cement from its...

3 Reasons Lighting Manufacturers Should Think Lean

Lighting fixture producers the world over have much to look forward to. Predictions from Transparency Market Research indicate a near 7 percent...

NGL Asset Management in the Age of Fractionation

Natural gas production has remained stagnant even as the nation creeps toward cooler weather. Instead, processing plants have begun to increase the...

Manufacturing | Process Improvement | energy | Efficiency | glass manufacturing

Glass Manufacturers See Through Energy Challenges

What challenges do glass manufacturers face as they attempt to reduce their energy consumption? Where might they turn to achieve significant results?

Taking Chemical Processing from Better to Best

How can a business in the chemical processing sector maintain a commitment to continuous improvement as its industry undergoes a period of financial...

Optimizing Transportation Logistics to Increase Profitability

What areas should transportation divisions look to that could both hide wasteful processes and, if maintained properly, significantly optimize...

Improving Data Transparency in Food and Beverage Processing

Data transparency can help food and beverage manufacturers cut out waste and feed the world. Food and beverage manufacturers are tasked with a single...

How Waste Spreads from Unmanaged Inventories

Six Sigma hates waste. If a manufacturing plant plans on getting any leaner, its executives, managers, and supervisors should be on the prowl for...

Manufacturing | technology | Food & Beverage | sustainability | food processing

Considerations When Integrating High-Pressure Processing

What challenges do food and beverage companies face when integrating high-pressure processing equipment? At first glance, high-pressure processing -...

Setting Goals to Grow Your Organization

At a time when businesses everywhere value continuous improvement, setting goals is now more important than ever. Are your business objectives moving...

Manufacturing | Process Improvement | Project Management | Process Management | Process Analysis

Maximizing the Value of a Process Task Analysis

You don't need to whip out a textbook or ask your favorite search engine what process task analysis is - it's in the name. You have a process made up...

Improve Quality Control for Faster Cycle Times

How can manufacturers improve QC cycle times while still performing everything they need to stay compliant? At a glance, the mission of a quality...

Using Big Data in Supply Chain Management

Where do supply chains need the most oversight? How can enhanced analytics maximize efficiency and help these areas operate more smoothly? Big data...

Tighten the Bolts on Your Asset Maintenance Program

Regularly scheduled repairs on capital-intensive assets are the cornerstone of any preventive, predictive, or proactive maintenance strategy in the...

3 Process Improvement Guidelines for Any Industry

Tenets of process improvement must, by nature, contain a certain degree of ubiquity. Processes are everywhere: on manufacturing production lines, in...

Project Management

Getting the Most From Cross-Functional Collaboration

Decision-makers in a given business may ultimately decide which organizational changes or initiatives to go through with, but without information...

Using Action Items for Better Project Management

When undertaking a new project or process improvement, organizations create action items that set change in motion. As the name suggests, an action...

Five Essentials for Process Mapping

Process mapping allows businesses to chart out steps in a given system to understand them more fully. Virtually every process in any industry can and...

Manufacturing | Lean | Inventory Management | Labor Planning

3 Signs Your Successful Manufacturing Scale-Up Could Backfire

Successful manufacturing scale-up can feel like reaching the top of a very tall hill with your product in tow. You've struggled to get past the...

Preventive Maintenance Scheduling for Maximum Productivity

Comprehensive preventive maintenance and asset management ensure both the functionality, and efficiency of high-value equipment at a given business...

3 Considerations for Negotiating Supplier Payment Terms

When negotiating payment terms with suppliers, manufacturers must pay special attention to avoiding risk. A balanced supply contract ensures a...

Spend Management Strategies for Optimized Freight Logistics

The Freight Debate: How should businesses approach freight spend management to achieve the greatest results? When businesses suffer from high...

3 Methods to Improve Supplier Negotiations

What best practices should businesses adhere to when involved in supplier negotiations? Direct negotiation ought to take all the guesswork out of...

21st Century Spend Management Solutions for Chemical Processors

For spend managers at these organizations hoping to push their enterprise into the 21st century, what value could be achieved by concentrating spend...

Controlling Indirect Spending Costs in Manufacturing

In manufacturing, indirect spend reductions can have a deeper, more profound impact than other industries. What must manufacturers do to optimize...

Procurement | strategic sourcing | Food & Beverage | Sourcing | Spend

Fresh Food Providers Can Freeze Costs with Strategic Sourcing

Where can the food and beverage industry reduce procurement costs for better strategic sourcing? Strategic sourcing isn't achieved overnight - it's a...

Reliability-centered Maintenance as a Top Mining Priority

Can smarter asset management and maintenance strategies address mining issues of today, as well as those on the horizon? When they supply...

Strategic Sourcing and the Impact of Falling Oil Prices

What do low oil prices mean for how companies source and manage their supply chains? As economists know, price fluctuations for commodities like oil...

Enabling Process Improvements with 'Objective-Based' Data Management Tools

Innovation is driven by technological advancements, but far too often, manufacturers across all industries are overly concerned with how to bring the...

Use the Pareto Principle for Effective SKU Rationalization

Behind every great retailer, there is a warehouse receiving, stocking, sorting, and distributing its products. These operations serve an invaluable...

Improving Efficiency in Medical Device Manufacturing

In the coming decades, the field of medical device manufacturing will be put to the test. According to new U.S. Census Bureau estimates, more than 75...

Optimizing Asset Utilization in Lumber Mills

Forestry has been one of the most profitable industries in recent years, even with modifications made to integrate environmentally sustainable...

Optimize Quality Control for Efficient Pharma Manufacturing

Pharmaceutical manufacturers can magnify operational efficiency by taking a closer look at on-site quality control processes. Pharmaceutical...

Upstream Efficiency in the Oil Industry

Oil production in the U.S. has seen a steady long-term incline over the last few years. Between 2011 and 2014, the total number of "crude oil and...

Balancing Risk Management in Lean Operations

Process industries, perhaps more so than any other, need a strong risk management approach since they experience and interact with risk on a daily...

Efficiency in Pulp and Paper Mills

Achieving operational efficiency is essential in the pulp and paper industry. Variances in production can raise overhead costs and, in turn, make it...

Upgrade Operations to Reduce Plastic Manufacturing Costs

Plastic has left an indelible mark on the manufacturing industry. This ubiquitous material helps companies produce high-quality products at an...

Improve Employee Relations to Support Lean Operations

Manufacturers who adopt a lean operations manifesto for their business should also be willing to beef up their employee relations to attain their...

Mining | Safety | Digging | Underground Mining | Backfill

Digging into the Relationship Between Mining Safety and Efficiency

An ancillary component to all mining operations, perhaps more so than any industry, is mining safety. Everything mine workers and their foremen do...

Finding Operational Efficiency atop the Chemical Manufacturing Supply Chain

Manufacturing chemicals for use in other industries could be rightfully described as the backbone of the U.S. gross domestic production. According to...

Scheduling Changeovers for Maximum Operating Efficiency

In process industries, investment in new technology does not always mean that operations will be more efficient. In most situations, technology needs...

Help Close the Skills Gap with Continuous Improvement

For many industries, the skills gap is a troubling issue. Every year, more and more experienced workers retire, taking valuable expertise with them....

Can Small Manufacturers Teach Quality to Big Ones?

The way that small manufacturers operate holds valuable lessons for the industry as a whole. Armed with quick and flexible production schedules, as...

Use Process Maps to Raise Efficiency

Process maps can help you improve operations and add value to your organization. In lean manufacturing, process maps are powerful tools that can help...

Align Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) With Your End Goals

Most companies are experts in their respective fields, but still struggle to make progress in their continuous improvement initiatives. This is why...

Manufacturing | MOS | Continuous Improvement Programs | Process Management | Knowledge Transfer

Why Continuous Improvement is a Good Idea

An essential element in promoting efficient operations at a manufacturing plant is continuous improvement, requiring an ongoing effort to improve...

5 Ways to Address the Manufacturing Industry Skills Gap

In today's manufacturing industry, the "skills gap" is one of most pressing and talked about issues. Last year, many major media outlets covered the...

Virtualization Can Raise Manufacturing Efficiency

In manufacturing, virtualization helps companies by simplifying the management of IT and operational assets. Dealing with complex plant systems, tons...

Kanban Helps Limit Downtime and Inventory Overflow

Kanban is one of several tools used by manufacturers to increase efficiency and limit downtime in a production process. Facilities use Kanban to make...

Real-Time Analysis in Chemical Processing

Chemical processing and other batch manufacturing operations are becoming increasingly complex. Manufacturers today need to have a fast response time...

Make Time for Plant and Asset Maintenance

Having a proper asset maintenance plan in place is essential for every manufacturing plant. However, sometimes a major impediment to getting...

Not Too Late: Preserving Tribal Knowledge!

Tribal knowledge is ascertained through years of hard work and experience. Most plants and manufacturing sites tend to have seasoned workers that...

4 Ways to Reduce Plant Changeover Time

All manufacturers invariably understand the importance of keeping changeover time to a minimum, as increased downtime means a drop in productivity,...

Cost Management: The Importance of a Well Defined Spec

Have you ever sent someone to the grocery store with a list of items to buy along with the money necessary, then had them return home after spending...

Who are you Online?

You should care about your online reputation, as it can overshadow the reputation you try to build in person. Anymore, if you’re scheduled to meet...

3 Reasons Why You Need an Asset Maintenance Program

With worldwide prices for many commodities like precious metals, chemicals, and even food products continuing to fluctuate, many industries are...

Continuous Improvement Leads To Cost Savings

Recently, our mining team was asked to conduct a study at a silver mine in South America. The goal of this study was to uncover inefficiencies and...

Process Improvement Isn't a DIY Project!

Recognizing your business’s need to make changes to your operations is the first step in the process improvement process, but how you go about it...

Why We Love Consulting (And You Should Too)

One of the benefits of working for a consulting firm is the exposure to a wide range of industries and working environments that a majority of the...

Making the Most of an Asset Reliability Program

With commodity pricing continuing to fluctuate worldwide, mining companies and other heavy-asset industries can benefit from better alignment of...

Part 3: How Evolved Is Your Supply Chain - Assessment Answers

Recently, I have been discussing supply chain evolution. My previous post provided a series of questions for you to assess where your organization is...

All About the Approach: Facilitating Lasting Changes

In my previous post, I explained how building strong client relationships makes the project process easier and increases overall success. As a...

Part 2: How Evolved Is Your Supply Chain - A Self Assessement

In my last post, I posed the question, “How evolved is your supply chain?” I’m hoping you took some time to think about it. Maybe you were you able...

This Is What Makes Us Who We Are

Below is the second half of my interview with our CEOs, George Coffey and Jim Ostrosky. In this section they discuss who we are as a company and how...

How Evolved Is Your Supply Chain?

The APICS Dictionary, 14th edition, defines Supply Chain Management (SCM) as “the design, planning, execution, control, and monitoring of supply...

Proper Documentation Can Improve Pipeline Integrity

With projects across the globe, the variety of clients our company works with has given me the chance to learn about specific processes utilized in...

Our Past, Present, and Future

Last month, USCCG celebrated its 46th anniversary. With a rich history of successful projects and satisfied clients, we know that we must be doing...

Building Client Relationships and Lasting Results

While I've spent a significant amount of time working with some of our mining clients, I have recently had the pleasure of working with a client in a...

Supplier Relationship Management (SRM): It’s More Than Just Technology

Say the words Supplier Relationship Management (SRM), or Customer Relationship Management (CRM) to most people and they immediately think of...

Overcome Mucking Blockages with Distance Charting

The movement of broken rock or “muck” is critical in an underground mining operation. A large portion of mine design is based around getting the muck...

An Approach for Efficient Plant Turnarounds

Having excellent On-Stream Time is the bread and butter of any processing plant or other facility that produces chemicals, power, pulp, etc....

Embracing Variability: A Strategy for the Food & Beverage Industry

Recently, I reached out to one of our most charismatic team members, Charlie Payne, and got him to tell me a little bit about his approach to new...

5 Steps to Reducing Supply Chain Costs

A colleague was relating a conversation he had with a CFO of a $1 billion business, he was talking about how the company reduced waste in...

Curious About Chemical Plant On-Stream Time? An Interview with Paul Harker

“Trade Value for Value- If you are not putting in more than you’re taking out, you are either a thief or a mooch. I don’t want to be either.” –Paul...

Supply Chain, How You Doin’?

Recently, I came across an interesting article, The Sexiest Job in the World: Supply Chain Management by Boris Felgendreher, about the hidden allure...

Client Interactions | Office Politics | Professional Relationships | Project Site | Consulting

What Kind of Impression are You Making?

Everyone understands the importance of making a good first impression, but as a consultant, you’re constantly making first impressions every time you...

Your Workforce is Your Most Valuable Resource Underground

Maximize Your Return on Labor by Focusing on Advance/Man Shift As one of the most valuable assets in an underground mine, the miners themselves can...

How a Maintenance Backlog Can Be a Good Thing!

I spent a couple of years at an underground mine and learned a lot about equipment maintenance strategies, enough that I was able to write a...

Supply Management: Much More Than Sourcing

Many people equate Spend Management with the process of Strategic Sourcing! Personally, I have always viewed it in a much broader sense - the “total...

Keep Your Cookies and Don’t Feed the Animals

If you give a mouse a cookie… I‘m sure most of you are familiar with the phrase above, and some of you probably remember this book from grammar...

Consulting

Introducing Metrics. The Business Performance Improvement Blog.

Metrics is your source for the latest trends in operations management and business and process improvement. Metrics is supported by a staff of select...

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