Many companies have already started lean but I think many people might ask “Are we lean?” You might measure “being lean” on how much waste is removed. To be truly lean 100% of the waste form a process has to be removed and the reality is that there will always…
No Comments + Read MoreA question I hear a lot is “how do we sustain our changes?” I wanted to share a question one of the lean experts I’ve trained in the past asked David Meier (Author and founder of Lean Associates Inc http://www.leanassociates.com/about.php): Question from lean expert:What are best practices from sustaining improvements…
No Comments + Read MoreI’ve been thinking about Lean lessons and I had an inspiration from my workout. I work out out at CrossfitCFT (a Crossfit affiliate gym in Nashville)and we have a mantra “be comfortable with being uncomfortable.” What does that mean and what the heck does working out have to do with…
No Comments + Read MoreMost people who know lean know the frame work around how to apply it to manufacturing. One thing I haven’t seen is an agreed upon framework to apply lean to non manufacturing settings. Thats what I want to talk about in today’s blog. What is the “standard” approach to applying…
No Comments + Read MoreCompetition is what business in a free market is all about. Wouldn’t it be great if we have a competitive advantage that our competition couldn’t duplicate? The question becomes what do you have that our competition does not? The culture of a company is a distinctive and unique advantage. Think…
No Comments + Read MoreMost everyone knows about the leaning tower of Pisa but why did it get that way? This is straight from Wikipedia – “The tower began to sink after construction had progressed to the third floor in 1178. This was due to a mere three-meter foundation, set in weak, unstable subsoil,…
No Comments + Read MoreToday’s title was the phrase that was told to me when I first started in my lean journey during a transformation process. When going through a lean implementation there are two aspects we look at: 1) Technical and tangible aspectsa. Design elementsb. Schedulingc. Staffingd. And other tools 2) Non-technical and…
No Comments + Read MoreMany of us at are familiar with the seven wastes: TransportationInventoryMotion WaitingOver processingOver productionDefects Too many companies focus on just the above 7 when they are only 1/3 of the issues in a system. TIM WOOD is called MUDA. There are 3 elements that need to be addressed when making…
No Comments + Read MoreThank you to www.shmula.com for the photo and an interesting article why lean transformations fail. Thank you also to Henry Ford for the title of today’s blog post. The picture tells a very interesting story. 70% of transformations fail because of ourselves. We are are worst enemies when it comes…
No Comments + Read MoreLike many of you I’ve been hearing a lot about the health care debate and it got me thinking. Now I know there are many sides to the problem but I think the one question we have to ask ourselves is “What’s really the problem?” When I think about it…
No Comments + Read More