INEMA’s specific areas of activity can be summarised as follows:

Processing Methods and Times

These techniques analyse “methods”, breaking down each single process into elementary operations that are then closely examined in order to identify the simplest, quickest and safest way of performing them. These elements include both the design and operating phases of plant and work cycles. The standard time for carrying out an operation is based on machine readings or predetermined time schedules, the results of previous readings, or on estimates.

Reduction of Set-Up Times: Application of SMED Techniques

SMED techniques make it possible to reduce machine equipping times to a minimum, allowing for a more efficient use of productive resources. The reduction of setup times is essential for making Just-In-Time production efficient. Underlying SMED techniques is the idea of performing the highest possible number of setup activities while the machine is still working, limiting the number of production interruptions.

Productivity Improvement

Productivity can be very simply defined as the relationship between how much is produced (the result) and what is needed to produce it (the means). To improve results it’s necessary first of all to identify bottlenecks, superfluities and waste. From an organizational point of view, the company must be open to changes and flexible.

Turnaround Management

Turnaround management is a process dedicated to the recovery of trading companies in crisis through the use of analytical instruments and strategic planning In order to bring them back to solvency. It’s a multi-disciplinary activity through which an analysis of the causes of the crisis using tools such as Activity Based Costing and SWOT analysis makes it possible to draw up a short-medium-long-term restructuring plan involving customers, suppliers and stakeholders.

Maintenance Management

Proper management of maintenance helps to maximise the use of equipment and to keep productivity levels constant, thereby reducing costs. Production efficiency and effective maintenance are, therefore, closely linked. Maintenance management today involves increasingly complex problems and requires suitable responses. It’s always important to convert Corrective Maintenance into Planned Maintenance., which requires significant changes in the organisation of maintenance: new procedures, a new mentality on the part of relevant staff, and new forms of maintenance.

Project Management

Project Management is the group of activities aimed at achieving project goals/objectives. A project is a task to be completed in a certain period of time (with a starting date and a completion date) aimed at creating specific products and/or services and/or results that bring benefits and added value to the customer/client. The main task of project management is that of achieving the objectives of the project while remaining within the classic restraints imposed by the customer’s context, usually costs, time and purpose (also in the sense of quality). The second task – but no less ambitious – is that of optimising the allocation of resources and integrating the necessary inputs to achieve the defined objectives.

Processes Re-engineering

The re-engineering of company processes is an organisational measure involving a far-reaching revision of operating processes that are no longer appropriate for company needs. A process is a group of interconnected activities that lead to a final result identifiable by the client, which then contributes to creating value for the company. The stimulus for action could come from benchmarking results, from an analysis of customer satisfaction, from a change in the operating framework, from a redefinition of company objectives, from evidence of other critical parameters that imply the need or appropriateness of improving the efficiency and effectiveness of a company process, from the need to introduce new working methodologies, or from other situations. A number of tools are available for redesigning the organisation of processes, such as: the redefinition of hierarchies, of organisational levels and of the decision-making chain; the modification of assigned roles; the pooling or subdivision or parallelisation of activities or functions; the elimination of activities without added value; the acquisition of new work tools; the use of new methods or new technologies with relative training programmes; the adjustment of work spaces; the identification of suitable incentive systems; the adoption of new IT systems; the re-engineering of software systems supporting correlated information systems; the removal of obstacles that hinder the process, and so on, normally affecting various company departments.

Work Flow Design

A workflow is a sequence of linked activities. This sequence can be defined as the work of a person, a group of people, of an organisation or any other simple or complex structure. A workflow can be considered as the bricks used to build an organisation.

Training and Instruction

The choice of focusing on existing resources in order to achieve positive results must be supported by a staff training programme that ensures the continuous, rapid and complete development of workers. INEMA’s training programme is aimed at guaranteeing not only rapid professional growth, but also maximum development of individual potential. Training is characterized, moreover, by its internal nature; the trainers are always company partners or senior consultants, who share their experience and skills with the customer.