Category: Ramon Anthony Jadra

NTMA Praises Release of Federal Workforce Development Grants

Experienced strategic operations leader Ramon Anthony Jadra serves JFive, LLC, as a business consultant. In this role, he consults with aerospace and defense industry representatives on strategies to improve business efficiencies, outcomes, and profitability. Ramon Anthony Jadra is a past member of the National Tooling and Machining Association (NTMA).

NTMA, along with advocacy partner Precision Metalforming Association (PMA), praised the Trump administration for authorizing the release of federal workforce development grants that will create collaborative partnerships with educational institutions, businesses, and trade associations. In addition to $183.8 million in federal workforce development grants, another $100 million in grants will promote apprenticeship programs.

By 2025, there is expected to be a labor gap in the manufacturing sector. The grants will be instrumental in helping manufacturers attract the best and brightest workers now for the next generation.

In a statement, NTMA interim president Doug DeRose said NTMA has made workforce development a priority for more than a decade. The grants will provide significant help for the industry to close the skills gap in the manufacturing sector, DeRose said.

Millions of dollars have already been spent by NTMA and PMA on workforce development programs through their foundations. These programs have helped attract, train, and retain skilled workers in the manufacturing industry. With the federal grants, NTMA and PMA are looking to strengthen partnerships with stakeholders, such as the National Institute for Metalworking Skills, to train American manufacturing workers for the future.

The Seven Deadly Wastes of Lean Manufacturing

Strategic operations leader Ramon Anthony Jadra is a business consultant with JFive LLC in Westminster, Maryland. In this role, Ramon Anthony Jadra consults with aerospace and defense industry companies on strategies to improve business efficiencies such as adopting lean manufacturing techniques.

At its core, lean manufacturing is the continuous pursuit of efficiency by eliminating all elements that do not add value to the customer. The aspects that do not add value are referred to as waste. Lean manufacturing practitioners identify seven types of waste, sometimes called the seven deadly wastes. They are:

-Overproduction – Making products before they are needed leading to excess inventory. Lean manufacturing promotes manufacturing paced to match client demand.

-Waiting – When one process is stalled so another can be completed first, causing costly delays. Lean manufacturing promotes continuous manufacturing processes that have no buffers.

-Transport – Unnecessarily moving raw materials or finished goods. A better way is to organize processes systematically so movement is consistent and deliberate.

-Motion – Unnecessarily moving people. This occurs when work areas are not organized logically.

-Overprocessing – Doing more processing than is necessary to produce what clients want. Lean manufacturing encourages aligning production processes with client expectations.

-Excess inventory – Raw materials delivered before they are needed and finished goods that stay in storage for long periods. Just-in-time handling of inventory is the leaner, more effective option.

-Defects – Product defects requiring extra work to correct. Lean manufacturing prioritizes designing processes that reduce the occurrence of defects and, when they arise, correct them immediately.