How does kaizen actually show up on the bottom line?
This is a question that gets asked a lot, and honestly, we owe the asker a better answer than “it just does, trust us.” (Even though this is true.)
Here’s my thinking - it shows up two ways.
One is intangible. By that I mean it is incredibly [...]
This post is in response to Ethan’s post on “
The White Board.” He asked about the paper shuffle - admin processes.
This seems to be a hot topic today. First, because these techniques are increasingly being applied to operations that don’t do manufacturing. They are service delivery, information processing, and creative processes instead. And second, I [...]
Back on “
How The Sensei Sees” I got a question / comment from an old friend and very early teacher of mine. I invite you to see the comments, my response, and to chime in.
Also filed in
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Tagged PDCA
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Tuesday, January 29, 2008
The last post got way too long, and I wanted to get it out there. But of course, there are afterthoughts.
At a level higher than simple process chaos, overburden hits the entire organization when perceived demand is significantly greater than perceived capacity.
As I noted in the earlier post, segregating what should be routine from the [...]
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Corrie van den Hoek, a regular reader and correspondent from The Netherlands, is working on applying kaizen in the health care industry. She left a comment on ‘The White Board’ asking my thoughts on the concepts of mura and muri in the health care field.
I think it is first important to define the terms because [...]
Saturday, November 10, 2007
The last post was a bit of a narrative, and I think it is appropriate to call out a few key points and express them succinctly.
The theoretical stuff all emphasizes “initial process stability” as a requirement for progress. Ohno said “without standards there can be no kaizen.” Mark says - “Without parts there can [...]
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Yesterday I told you the plan for today. Here is what really happened.
We got the even pitch going for a while. I was at the front of the line releasing units down the line as the pre-build Team Member was done with them. I was watching distance (since distance = time on a moving line). [...]
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
The day today ended about 10 pm. It is 11 pm now as I write this, which translates to 7 am Pacific Time. I will leave the remaining time zones as an exercise for my European readers. (Hello, Corrie!)
Once we hit the shop floor today we were in “understand the current situation” mode. It turned [...]
Those of you who are familiar with Shingijutsu’s materials and teaching (or at least familiar with Nakao-san’s version of things) have heard of “The Seven Flows.” As a brief overview for everyone else, the original version, and my interpretations are:
The flow of people.
The flow of information.
The flow of raw materials (incoming materials).
The flow of sub-assemblies [...]
Thursday, October 11, 2007
In Mike Wroblewski’s blog “Got Boondoggle?” he
comments on just how much packaging and dunnage is not visible in Toyota’s Industrial Equipment plant. Of course that is remarkable because of just how common it is to find the opposite condition. Factories (and offices) have lots of packaging around, and spend lots of time dealing with [...]