When meeting someone for the first time, I am invariably asked what I do for a living. I proudly respond that I work for Alice Manufacturing Company, a family owned textile company, in Easley. I used that reply with an out-of-state couple at a wedding reception a…
Lean methodologies emerged in manufacturing and have now been applied to many business processes including innovation management (1). It is the latest “best practice” in manufacturing for process improvement alongside Six Sigma and Theory of Constraints (TOC). But if you are relying solely on the lean methodologies…
Selecting the best person to lead a department, function, or company can be very challenging, particularly in a complex manufacturing environment where the game is always changing. Search firms are an excellent resource for identifying new talent but resumes and recruitment interviews provide only surface information about…
Being a bunch of what some would consider “Quality Dorks”, we’ve been abuzz since the Spring of 2013 with anticipation of the changes to the most widely adopted international management system standard in the world – ISO 9001. If you’ve done business in manufacturing over the past…
A Greenville company has just unveiled the first commercially produced computer featuring a handcrafted wooden case made from domestically sourced trees. The Volta V, which is part of Computer Direct Outlet’s Volta line, was designed with the future in mind. Gary Underwood, the company’s owner, said the…
Selecting the best person to lead a department, function, or company can be very challenging, particularly in a complex manufacturing environment where the game is always changing. Search firms are an excellent resource for identifying new talent but resumes and recruitment interviews provide only surface information about…
Contributed by Mark Degraffenreid, Greenville Technical College The U.S. is the world’s largest manufacturing economy and in South Carolina, manufacturing helps to drive the economy, with $28.90 billion in manufactured goods exported in 2014. Manufacturing in Greenville County is an economic powerhouse, first in gross regional product, first…
Charleston is internationally-recognized for breath-taking architecture, exceptional cuisine, an awareness of history and an amazing quality of life. Over the past few decades, Charleston has built a vibrant innovation ecosystem: Charleston’s digital economy is the fourth in GDP growth in the Nation (ranking with Austin, Raleigh…
A few months ago, along with five other Oconee County high school students, I was interviewed about what I knew about manufacturing. While we each answered the questions separately, we mostly had the same kinds of answers – for better or for worse. For example, we all…
Listen closely and you realize there is a lively debate between those who believe process is most important in innovation and others who contend that vision and creativity are what leads to success. The truth is that both are equally important and organizations interested in improving their…