Lean is a bit like ice cream and children. Everyone thinks that theirs is the best. Unlike ice cream or children there is no one “best” way to do Lean. In-fact it will look like the complete opposite in some industries. Because of this you end up with what it…
+ Read More“Going Lean” can be very exciting for a company because of the results it can produce. An engaged workforce, reduced costs, faster delivery times, better quality, and a competitive advantage in the market place to name a few. You hear companies like Toyota using it to compete in a very…
+ Read More“JUST ORDER MORE WIDGETS! I’D RATHER HAVE TOO MUCH AND KEEP THINGS RUNNING THEN NOT HAVE ENOUGH AND STOP THE LINE.” How many have heard something like that? I’d be very surprised if you haven’t. I was dealing with a materials guy who was held accountable on uptime, I know…
+ Read MoreI came across this great article in the USA Today on how Lean is helping manufacturing companies survive the recession. http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/manufacturing/2009-11-01-lean-manufacturing-recession_N.htm?csp=34 It’s pretty simple. Get rid of waste, empower your people, and keep changing to get better and you have a winning formula. Now thats a bit easier said then…
+ Read MoreI was reading on how mayonnaise is judged and can you believe there are over 40 categories to measure how “good” a mayonnaise is! There are characteristic like color, shine, several dimensions of taste, etc. If you were trying to make the best mayonnaise possible would you try to get…
+ Read MoreMany 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…
+ 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…
+ 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,…
+ 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…
+ 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…
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