In this episode, I was joined by Pat Hoskins of Newcastle Systems at MODEX 2022. Newcastle Systems is focused on bringing mobile workstations to your operation in order to increase process accuracy and productivity. We discuss how Newcastle Systems is focused on increasing this process accuracy, how they are helping to get more out of employees, and their roots as a lean organization.
Key Takeaways
- Newcastle Systems provides mobile workstations which are very smartly designed and allow for further productivity. I have utilized them myself in multiple jobs and I cannot imagine being in an operation that is not utilizing them. They allow you to have a full work set up where ever you need through their mobile battery technology. Not only are they known for being used in the warehousing environment, but they are also recently seeing success for technicians using their stations too where they can have their tools on the cart and have the computer in front of them to reference work instructions or other needed materials.
- Pat discusses the importance of process accuracy and why that can slow an operation down. When we look at standardizing our processes it is important that the process is done the same way every time because that is how you have determined the best way to do the process. The mobile carts help to ensure that accuracy because they allow you to do the work where you are actually working. Pat utilizes a great example of receiving pallets where instead of walking back and forth to print labels and check products into the system, you can take the cart with you and do all of those actions at the pallet itself. This helps ensure better accuracy and also eliminates the waste of walking back and forth.
- As I have discussed with Newcastle Systems on the show before, they are a lean organization and they try to bring that mindset and knowledge into their customer’s organizations as well. Pat discusses how they begin to do that and we discuss the initial challenges of getting people to see the waste that is present in their operation. Once you are able to get people to understand just how much time they are spending walking or quantify it into a cost then their eyes start to open to all of the waste that is potentially present.
EP 281: Newcastle Systems at MODEX 2022
