I have come to expect very little from most airlines, especially for the parts of the “service” that doesn’t involve actually sitting in the airplane. Still, some airlines make their policies more clear than others. Alaska Air, for example, is explicitly clear that I can hold a reservation for 24 hours and cancel with no [...]
This is Part 2 of a multi-part review. Part 1 is here. In my review of Kaizen Express back in May, I took LEI to task for two things – First, I didn’t feel Kaizen Express contributed anything really new to the body of knowledge. I would have been satisfied if it had more clearly [...]
I just started reading this book, and my initial feeling is that it is a winner. Rather than producing a batch review of the whole thing at the end, I thought I would employ “one chapter flow” and share my impressions with you as they are formed. As I write this, I honestly do not [...]
A couple of days ago, in “ The First Steps of The Lean Journey,” I said that there really is no first step, only the next step from where ever you are right now. I admit that I left out a big assumption there – that you know where you are trying to go. More [...]
Yesterday’s post on vendor managed inventory touched on a couple of things about “lean” and reducing inventory that I’d like to explore further. All too often “inventory reduction” has been a way to “sell” a lean manufacturing implementation. The reduction of inventory becomes the objective. While this isn’t inherently a bad thing, it is all [...]
correction: I had typed “October 10″ for the date. That was my mistake. It is October 8th. I will be speaking at the October 8 meeting of the Seattle ASQ on the topic of “The Continuous Improvement Ideal: Principles to Engage Your People.” From the ASQ event page: You may have heard of Toyota’s principle [...]
Almost every shop I have visited has, or is thinking about, initiating a “vendor managed inventory” program of some kind. The pressure to do this is especially strong when there is a big push to improve working capital positions and increase inventory turns. And, to be honest, the way traditional accounting counts inventory turns, getting [...]
“Where do I start?” seems to be one of the most commonly asked, and most intensely discussed and debated, topic on the various discussion forums over the years. Yet a clear consensus hasn’t really emerged. Normally I don’t wade into those discussions when the question is asked generically. The reason is that without specifics about [...]