Mura is one of three Japanese terms meaning waste. The others are muda, the traditional form of waste in which resources are not effectively used, and muri, meaning overburden or overexertion. Mura means inconsistency or excess variation in either processes or demand. When processes can’t be standardized because of the Read more…
An internal setup is a task done to get a machine ready to switch from one product type to another that must be done when the machine is stopped. Obviously, the problem is that internal setup limits the time a machine can be running. As part of any setup reduction Read more…
I was watching an episode of Mythbusters last night. They were testing out where the highest concentrations of bacteria reside in your everyday life. (Hint: If you are using your keyboard right now, keep your hands away from your face!) The whole concept of a Petri dish got me thinking. Read more…
This week’s featured Lean thinker is Shingo prize winner Mark Graban. I suspect that many of you are familiar with his LeanBlog.org and his work in Lean healthcare. If you are not, you should be. So, here’s how Mark answered my Lean questions… What does Lean mean to you? I Read more…
I like to be challenged in my beliefs. For this reason, I am running an article that was submitted to me by Stephen Jannise of SoftwareAdvice.com. Stephen’s premise is that Lean is no longer enough to thrive in today’s competitive, flexible market. He believes that agile management is the next Read more…
It is easy to get wrapped up in the small stuff and lose sight of the big picture. While this can happen on the shop floor, it is much more prevalent in office settings. For example, teams may become focused on applying a Lean tool like takt time or Standard Read more…
Many office work areas don’t control the flow of work onto people’s desks. As a result, individuals may face a small pile of work on one day, and a large pile of work the next. Further complicating the problem, there is frequently no formal standardization of their processes. This makes Read more…
I pulled a muscle in my back playing basketball a few days ago, and it is surprising how much movement the core of your body is a part of. Things you don’t realize—reaching for a computer mouse, pulling open a window, and even picking things up off the floor—all caused Read more…
This week’s featured Lean thinker has been a guest in a few podcasts now. He is Jay Watson. Jay is one of those seasoned veterans of Lean from before it was mainstream. Yet with all those years of experience, he still has passion in his voice when we speak about Read more…
Very few managers have their desks right out in gemba—the workplace they manage. It is unfortunate, as being right where the action is provides a tremendous value.
Contrary to what many people think, the hardest step in problem solving is not coming up with a solution, or even sustaining the gains that are made. It is identifying the problem in the first place. Now, there are several different types of problems. The glaring, painful one. It is Read more…
Most people are accustomed to signing the back side of their paycheck. The question I’d ask you to consider, though, is whether you’d behave differently if you were signing the other side of the check. Consider if you had to put your John Hancock on a check for one of Read more…