Production Assembly Lean Manufacturing Impacting Merger and Acquisition Activity

Mankato, MN -- (ReleaseWire) -- 04/24/2015 -- Craig Barner recently reported in Forbes that merger & acquisition activity could get brawnier as smarter approaches to manufacturing make product assembly leaner and more responsive to demand. Production concepts, such as lean manufacturing, six sigma and total quality management, have been around for decades, but now new ideas, such as distributed manufacturing, are being tried. Whatever the approach, these models seek to improve the way products, from furniture to automobiles, are made. In addition, powerful new tools—robots, laser cutters, printed electronics, computer-numerical-control (CNC) milling machines, three-dimensional printing and scanning systems—are increasingly being employed in manufacturing.