In the
last post I brought up the advantage of having a long range plan vs. quarter-to-quarter thinking. I’d like to explore the concept a little more by way of an analogy.
Put yourself in the spring of 1961.
The USSR, by all demonstrative measures, is ahead of the USA in human space flight, and seems to [...]
As I mentioned
a long time ago, Art Smalley’s web site,
http://artoflean.com, is an excellent resource for learning. His thinking is cutting edge - he has kept up in the field.
I am mentioning it here because he has a couple of really good resources available.
Learning From Toyota is a presentation that challenges some of [...]
More than a few organizations I know are starting to understand the importance of establishing a culture of problem solving. Hopefully they are shifting from a tools implementation model to one which emphasizes how people respond to the daily friction generators.
In an email on the topic to a friend today, I cited four things that [...]
A frequent topic in the
lean.org forums is some version of “what is the difference between lean and ____” where the blank is one of the industry buzzwords. Some of the common ones are various prefixes to “Sigma.” Others are old standards such as TQM, SPC, TOC, etc. These discussions are always interesting as the [...]
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 [...]
In a “management by metrics” world, problems are detected when performance indicators are off track. Perhaps inventory is too high, first pass quality is a problem. Maybe operational availability is tanking.
Once the problems are abstracted into numbers, the numbers become the problem. The solution, then, is usually a directive to reverse the trend, to improve [...]
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 [...]
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Jim Collins book “
Good to Great” has been a best selling business book for several years. But I am not so sure everyone knows about
Jim Collins web site. It as on-line mini-lectures, and much more material that reinforces the concepts outlined in the book.
As for how the concepts in the book relate to “lean [...]
I guess four months into this, it kind of makes sense to talk about waste. But rather than repeat what everyone else says, maybe I can contribute to the dialog and toss out some things to think about.
Identifying / Seeing Waste.
Taiichi Ohno had 7 wastes, a few publications say 7+1. I have always disliked trying [...]
I was in a popular “Gold Rush” themed restaurant the other night, and they were struggling with a new table assignment system.
In the past the system was very simple. When you arrived, you told them your name, the number in your party. They wrote your name on a list, and gave you a pager. They [...]