Up to this point I have resisted weighing in on the Toyota quality story largely because:
I don’t have anymore insight than anyone else.
The signal-to-noise ratio in the story seems really low, and I didn’t feel I would contribute much.
But there is another story in the back channels of the “lean” community.
Many of us (myself included) [...]
“We are a job shop.”
“We never do the same thing twice.”
These are common truths spoken by people who are struggling with how to apply lean production principles to their operation. They want to do better, but don’t see how something that originated in the relentless repetition of an automobile assembly line can work for them.
This [...]
Background -
In
my original comments on The Lean Manager, I compared The Lean Manager’s story structure to that of Eli Goldratt’s classic The Goal.
This started a rather deep email exchange with Michael Ballé that goes far deeper into the book and the thoughts behind it than any review I could ever write.
With Michael’s permission, here [...]
This is Part 3 of a multi-part review.
Part 1 is here.
Before I get into it, I will break the rules of blogging and acknowledge a time gap here. I did finish the book shortly after I wrote part 2, in fact, I didn’t want to put it down. So now I am going back [...]
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 explained [...]
“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 the [...]
During my visit to The Netherlands, I had the pleasure to spend a couple of hours with Dennis Goethals, Managing Director and CEO of
DesignOnStock, a furniture manufacturer in Tilburg, The Netherlands. What I saw and heard were all of the critical elements I have seen in organizations that pull this off in a spectacular [...]
Now and then something comes across that makes it all worth it. And nothing is more “worth it” to me than to know something I said or did contributed to someone’s insight or impetus to do something spectacular.
Yesterday Earl sent me an email that is one of those times. I was going to edit it [...]
Staight left an interesting post on The Whiteboard a couple of days ago:
You’ve discussed 5S but Novaces, for example, has a 6S system. I think it would be great if you talked about different consultant companies and their processes.
Novaces, it turns out, is a consultancy apparently based out of New Orleans. In the nature of [...]
Remember when, a few short months ago, everyone was too busy taking orders and building up all of that inventory that you see out of your window now? Times have changed.
Then again, very few can claim lack of a “burning platform” now. Platform? Today it is more about getting out of the building alive!
Still, a [...]