Some years ago, Unionwear embraced lean manufacturing principles. Lean manufacturing means Unionwear is governed by the principle of continuous improvement. There are always bottlenecks in every manufacturing process. Once those bottlenecks are freed, the next slowest operation becomes the next bottleneck by default. So, his job is to constantly find and resolve bottlenecks.

Not only has lean manufacturing made Unionwear run more efficiently and profitably, it also unexpectedly prepared them for the coronavirus pandemic. That’s because, when all the chaos hit in March 2020, they were already accustomed to changing regularly anyway. So, although Unionwear had to start making face shield and gowns pretty much overnight, they were already accustomed to constant changes and improvements, making the transition much easier. Incidentally, this mindset of process improvement even includes improving Zoom meetings, optimizing home offices, and more. 

Furthermore, Unionwear can capitalize on chaos better than just about any other business. So if and when something unexpected happens, Unionwear can embrace the challenge where other businesses are more likely to falter. This gives them a competitive advantage, especially in manufacturing domestically.

Hear the podcast HERE (at the 24:50 for this topic)