Ways to Reduce Manufacturing Waste Production

Reduce Waste
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An experienced manager in the corrugated industry, Gerald Mayfield recently served as the regional production manager for Norampac. Due to his extensive experience in the field, Gerald Mayfield is extremely knowledgeable about a range of topics, such as personnel management, productivity matters, and waste reduction for manufacturing companies.

Manufacturing facilities produce a large amount of waste, which can be a drain not only on a company’s finances, but also on the environment. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways manufacturers can reduce their waste. Perhaps the most straightforward way of doing this is simply altering production processes so that less waste is produced. This reduces overall costs and can even streamline overall production.

If there is nowhere to limit waste creation, then manufacturers should focus on recycling. By determining which areas create the largest amount of recyclable materials, facilities can look for ways to reuse what they can and recycle what they cannot instead of throwing the waste away. Reusing certain materials keeps companies from having to buy new supplies. Meanwhile, buying recycled items is often cheaper and more economical.

Beyond overall changes, manufacturing facilities can make specific changes to their equipment and shipping behaviors. Instead of buying new equipment, companies can buy remanufactured items. Rechargeable batteries and printer cartridges help limit waste reduction, as does buying in bulk and requesting that purchased items are not over-packaged. Cloth towels instead of paper for employees limits personnel waste, as does switching to durable cups and tableware over the disposable varieties.

What is Falcons’ Landing?

Falcons’ Landing
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Gerald Mayfield, an expert in corrugated packaging materials, has provided strategic production planning and management for manufacturing firms in the industry such as Norampac and Smurfit-Stone Container Corporation. An avid sports fan, Gerald Mayfield enjoys following teams such as the Georgia Bulldogs, the Atlanta Hawks, and the Atlanta Falcons.

The Atlanta Falcons are an American football team that competes in the National Football Conference South Division of the National Football League (NFL). Founded in 1965 as an expansion team, the team plays home games at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia. The Falcons offer a variety of ticket packages and game day events for their fans’ enjoyment, including the Falcon’s Landing venue. Located on International Plaza in Atlanta near the Georgia Dome, Falcon’s Landing is a free entertainment experience for the team’s fans.

In addition to food and drinks, the Landing includes activities such as live entertainment and music, face painting, autograph sessions, and games. Moreover, fans can visit the Mercedes-Benz Stadium Mobile Experience, where they can learn about progress on the Falcon’s new stadium that is scheduled to open in 2017. The team’s cheerleaders also regularly make an appearance at the landing, which opens three hours before each Falcons game to offer a festive pregame experience for Falcons fans.

Lowering Manufacturing Costs without Reducing Workforce

Lowering Manufacturing Costs
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An experienced executive in the corrugated industry, Gerald Mayfield most recently served as the regional production manager for Norampac in New York. In this capacity, he managed three corrugated manufacturing facilities and handled strategic production planning. During the time he operated in this capacity, Gerald Mayfield turned previously unprofitable plants into profitable ones by reducing waste and overtime and improving the manufacturing processes.

Cutting manufacturing costs is an important part of maintaining a productive and profitable facility; however, figuring out how to cut costs can be challenging. Following are just a few ways overall manufacturing costs can be lowered:

– Process optimization: Some manufacturing executives make the mistake of focusing on cutting product costs when they should really be looking at overall processing costs. Tweaking even small details of the production process can result in significant cost savings without having to lower the quality of the products.

– Energy consumption: Following the cost of labor, energy costs are the highest cost element of manufacturing. Machines require a great deal of energy, as does keeping a manufacturing space comfortable for employees. By monitoring energy consumption, executives can look for areas where they can slow manufacturing pace or replace old machines with more efficient ones.

– Regulatory compliance: Although manufacturing facilities cannot skip regulatory compliance, they can decrease the cost of regulatory compliance as newer technology emerges. Real-time monitoring systems make compliance regulation much more efficient while newer processes systems reduce overall mistakes.

The Benefits of Waste Reduction during the Manufacturing Process

Lean Manufacturing
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A veteran of the corrugated industry, Gerald Mayfield is interested in lean manufacturing, which largely focuses on the elimination of waste during the manufacturing process. As Gerald Mayfield understands, eliminating waste has a number of financial benefits for a company. The most obvious savings come from reduced spending on supplies, but companies also can save a great deal of money on waste disposal costs, especially as these costs raise over time. In addition, lean manufacturing reduces spending on energy and other necessary natural resources.

Beyond these immediate financial benefits, waste reduction can have several more impacts on business income. As companies become more environmentally conscious to reduce waste, they can market their products as a “green” option to appeal to consumers. By minimizing waste, companies can significantly reduce their impact on the environment. Green operations also can boost employee morale.

Another important consideration with waste is the risk of future liability due to disposal. When companies minimize or even eliminate their need for disposal, they limit such liability, which could have major environmental consequences.

How You Can Support United Yorkie Rescue

United Yorkie Rescue
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Devoted to protecting animals and their rights, Gerald Mayfield has rescued multiple dogs. Most recently, Gerald Mayfield rescued a Yorkshire terrier named Casey from United Yorkie Rescue after learning that the dog was being fostered in his hometown. Many people think that they do not have enough free time to get involved with a rescue. However, individuals can support United Yorkie Rescue in a number of ways besides adoption.

United Yorkie Rescue, like most other rescue organizations, relies on monetary donations to cover veterinary bills involved with caring for animals and nursing them back to health as they wait for their forever homes. Some members of United Yorkie Rescue make crafts for the organization’s gift shop, and donations of gift cards to various art supply stores offset the costs involved. In addition, the organization welcomes donations of gift certificates to area pet stores, which go toward supplies to care for animals at the rescue.

People can help fundraise in creative ways, such as holding a garage sale or organizing a local event. Those with enough free time can make crafts for the store, provide needed transportation, or even take in a foster dog.

Lean Manufacturing

Lean Manufacturing
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An experienced corrugated industry professional, Gerald Mayfield most recently served as a regional production manager with Norampac in Schenectady, New York. Since 1973, he has held multiple plant management positions supervising the creation of corrugated components. Gerald Mayfield’s leadership approach incorporates many aspects of lean manufacturing.

Lean manufacturing practices stress the value of “doing more with less” by endeavoring to eliminate or reduce waste during all phases of the design, production, distribution, and customer service processes. Although its origins date back to the early Model T assembly lines of Henry Ford, the basic tenets of modern lean manufacturing were born in Japan.

In an effort to eliminate “muda” (a Japanese term that means “futility” or “wastefulness”), Toyota executive Taiichi Ohno identified seven key categories of waste that manufacturers must monitor: overproduction, over-processing, high inventory, inefficient transportation, inefficient workplace motion, product defects, and lag time between steps in the manufacturing process. Many lean manufacturing models also add an eighth “workforce” category that addresses the efficient use of factory workers and other employees.

The Improvement-Focused Fundamentals of Lean Manufacturing

Lean Manufacturing
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With extensive experience in production management, Gerald Mayfield most recently engaged with a corrugated materials manufacturer in Schenectady, New York. Gerald Mayfield has a longstanding interest in organizational cost, quality, and productivity improvements, and emphasizes a lean manufacturing approach.

With roots in the Toyota Production System, lean manufacturing emphasizes the importance of eliminating waste at all levels. This goes beyond overproduction or excess inventory, and includes concepts of waste associated with delays, defects, and “unnecessary motion.”

In tandem with efforts to curb waste is “kaizen,” or continuous improvement, which focuses on small steps that enable change toward a desired goal. To be effective on an organizational level, kaizen must be instilled as a mindset that all employees adhere to and are credited for when they achieve significant improvements.

Another foundation of lean manufacturing is levelized production, which takes into consideration demand history and forecasts, and involves attaining a predictable workload each day. At the same time, just-in-time production ensures that capacities are expended on products for which there is a specific, immediate demand. Integrating the various aspects of lean production can help create a work environment that is flexible and improvement-focused.

The Passion-Fed Creation of the Bourne Movie Series

Bourne Movie Series
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Gerald Mayfield is a longtime Schenectady, New York, production manager who enjoys watching TV series such as Law & Order and Blue Bloods in his free time. Gerald Mayfield is also a fan of the Bourne movie series, which are loosely based on the Robert Ludlum thrillers. They feature Matt Damon as a lone-wolf CIA assassin who suffers from memory loss and must piece together his identity while helping to resolve international threats.

When the series launched, the selection of Matt Damon, now strongly associated with the series, was not a given. Best-known for movies such as Good Will Hunting and The Talented Mr. Ripley, Damon had never depicted an action hero. Established talents such as Russell Crowe and Brad Pitt were offered the part before it went to Damon.

It was the enthusiasm of director Doug Liman, a longtime fan of the Ludlum books, which ultimately brought Matt Damon on board with the project. Liman’s efforts were essential in securing the movie rights and reflected his fascination with spycraft, which dated back to his father’s years in the NSA. He personally piloted an airplane to Ludlum’s home in Montana in the late 1990s to discuss acquiring the rights. The author was impressed by his efforts and sold him the rights then and there, and one of the 2000s most successful movie franchises was underway.

World Habitat Day – Raising Awareness of Housing Issues

World Habitat Day
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Gerald Mayfield, who was until 2015 regional production manager of container manufacturer Norampac, spent many years in the corrugated industry. In his spare time, Gerald Mayfield devotes his efforts to the protection of abandoned animals, and charities such as Habitat for Humanity.

Habitat for Humanity, a charitable organization which funds and oversees the building of homes for families in need, is a keen participant in World Habitat Day. Taking place each October since 1985, World Habitat Day strives to promote the recognition and realization of the basic human requirement of shelter.

This worldwide event, formed by the United Nations General Assembly, raises awareness of poverty and homelessness issues, and serves as a call to action on the part of individuals and policy-makers. The organization encourages volunteers to decorate and display freestanding doors with relevant images and information, and also to partake in social media campaigns.

Each World Habitat Day features a specific theme that draws focus to housing-related issues such as social services, air and water quality, and affordable transportation. In 2015, the theme was “Public Spaces for All.”