Lean vs. Batch Manufacturing I’m branching out a little, and have been working on some video content for my site. This one is an animated comparison of how products flow through batch and Lean manufacturers. The side-by-side view of both production methods highlights the advantages that Lean offers.
What does Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) have to do with the sports industry? Well, I was reading Men’s Health and saw an article that turned out to be a pro athlete TPM “how to” guide. (May, 2009. Major League Muscle.) The piece was about Scott Boras, a sports agent who Read more…
Management, Lean, and leadership skills are essential to Lean success, both for you personally, and for your company. Consider this page a signpost to help you pick some tools to help you develop your Lean management and leadership skills. The Continuous Improvement Companion is the backbone of our training resources. Read more…
You might be surprised to hear me say this: Does that mean that I am not driven to make big gains in Lean? No. Does that mean that I don’t think Lean goals are important? Absolutely not. You shouldn’t be hitting all of your Lean improvement objectives. All it means Read more…
To some, Toyota might seem surprisingly open with its Lean TPS information. After all, Lean TPS is the primary reason for Toyota’s success and recent dominance in the auto industry. Why wouldn’t they guard their secrets? Even more, why would the give access to their facilities to both Lean practitioners Read more…
Let’s talk a little about the waste of overprocessing. Anyone who has been around Lean for more than a day or so has dived into the seven wastes (eight with unused creativity thrown in). One of the wastes is the waste of overprocessing. The most common explanation given about overprocessing Read more…
Like the three rules of real estate—Location, Location, Location—continuous improvement has its own repetitive rules as well. Plus, there’s even a fourth one for good measure. By the way—muda is the Japanese word for wasteful activity, but in practice is used synonymously with waste. These rules are pretty simple. Muda. Muda. Muda. Read more…
Let’s start out by assuming that you understand the definition of Lean standard work and are familiar with the three main documents for standard work. Armed with that basic information, you still have one big decision to make. Where do you start implementing Lean standard work? It can be overwhelming Read more…
Earlier this evening, I was recording some Lean audio training-my “Dirty, Dumb, or Dangerous” entry from The Continuous Improvement Companion. I thought I’d highlight one of the points I made in that article. (Remember-dirty, dumb, or dangerous tasks show a lack of respect for people, and should be eliminated.) Dirt Read more…
I was sitting here looking at my computer, and my eyes wandered to the various ways my computer cables are organized. I wondered how other people organize cables and cords. First of all, why bother to organize cables? Because an organized and clean workspace is generally an effective workspace. (Read Read more…
After sitting for countless hours in front of the computer when I was writing my Lean book, I noticed that my washer and dryer started to malfunction. They started shrinking my pants. OK, maybe it wasn’t the dryer’s fault. It might have had something to do with my lack of Read more…
Why is it that when we are in the airport, we don’t wander aimlessly around? It is because of the extensive use of Lean visual controls. Lean practitioners, just like airport designers, know the value of using visual controls. Lean processes should have what airports have: easy to recognize signals Read more…