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Quick response manufacturing, or QRM, is a set of standards and tools designed to help reduce waste and create a lean manufacturing environment. Learning more about QRM and how it applies to the industrial caster industry is important for understanding how Caster Concepts truly takes everything beyond standard.
The time-based strategy of quick response as a manufacturing management system can consist of a variety of different tools and strategies designed to accomplish one ultimate goal: reducing lead time in every aspect of the company while also reducing costs and improving overall customer satisfaction. Lead time can be defined as the total amount of time it takes to manufacture an item or complete order, including things like design, preparation, manufacturing, quality testing, and even delivery. QRM seeks to shorten the time it takes to manufacture a product or order, which improves customer satisfaction, generates revenue, and more.
There are two very specific ways to define QRM according to context. In the internal context, from the point of view of the manufacturer, reducing lead time also lowers inventory, improves quality, reduces costs, and offers up better responsiveness throughout the entire supply chain. In the external context, from the customer’s point of view, the goal involves responding to customer needs as quickly as possible and producing the best possible goods to fulfill those needs. Both contexts must be considered in order to successfully implement QRM.
Though QRM best practices and principles can be applied to manufacturing in any industry, it is especially useful in the industrial caster sector due to the nature of the business. Quick response manufacturing was originally developed to best serve companies operating in low volume and highly specific niches wherein multiple departments and redundant processes tend to create time management issues. Industrial caster manufacturers like Caster Concepts work with clients every single day to develop some of the most sophisticated casters in the world, and the less lead time between taking the client’s order and delivering the quality product, the better the overall outcome.
Ultimately, the relationship between manufacturers/sellers and consumers will determine the overall success of the business, so the better that relationship becomes, the more likely a business is to succeed. Without customers buying products, no standards or tools can help grow a business, and that’s exactly where QRM is different. By reducing lead time through streamlined processes, not only does QRM improve manufacturer and client relationships, but it also empowers employees and business owners to become innovators in their fields, completing the cycle and ensuring many years of success.
QRM is at the very core of being successful in any industry, including the industrial caster sector. Caster Concepts has utilized the principles of QRM since its inception, and that is how it has grown to become an authority in its highly specialized niche. The company sets standards in custom caster engineering, design, and testing that similar businesses across the globe readily adopt, and thanks to Caster Concepts’ overall success, it is one of the leading caster innovators, as well.
