Where can you find some of the best Lean Six Sigma teams around? The people I’m thinking of don’t spend their day on the shop floor or in an office. They work on the deck of a boat. Surprisingly, a great example of Lean operations is on Discovery Channel’s hit Read more…
I was just winding down watching some TV on a Sunday night, and it struck me that a lot of people are Lean without even realizing it. To be fair, I have a rather broad definition of Lean. I basically use it interchangeably with “continuous improvement“-constantly doing more with less. Read more…
When we think of process improvement, our minds often jump immediately to what the business is doing to fill a customer’s needs. We are not as good at looking at the steps the user takes. Is customer value added every time the product is used? A case in point. I Read more…
Airports and government agencies give such great opportunities for Lean blog articles. Despite the abundance of topics where I could point out problems, I have to say there are lots of positive changes I see in the face of challenging regulations and stressed customers. For example, story after story comes Read more…
The standard work process is a critical piece in the implementation of Lean manufacturing programs. It helps to stabilize a process and it provides a basis for continuous improvement. No matter how good something is, though, there is always a cost to it. For standard work, the price can come Read more…
Many years ago, when I was a lieutenant in the Army, I was responsible for a motor pool—a military word for a glorified lot where the unit parked its forty trucks when they weren’t in use. Every Friday afternoon, my sergeants and I managed the cleanup of the motor pool. Read more…
Great Lean practitioners and change agents know the same thing about implementing kaizen that a carpenter does about his trade. You have to use the right tool for the right job. When building cabinets, a woodworker relies on tools other than his hammer. Lean companies should look to tools other Read more…
Discussions about continuous improvement frequently mention the term ‘waste’ which is anything that doesn’t add value. But how often are the seven wastes in Lean discussed with respect to managing teams? Leadership, like operations or any other process, uses resources. Doesn’t it make sense to figure out ways to lead Read more…
Why Not Dream Big? As I was driving the other day, a license plate frame caught my eye. It said something like “I’m driving my silver dream.” The car was nice – a Japanese import that probably ran about $20K new, but has been out of production now for several Read more…
Conventional wisdom supports the belief that people with formal Lean and Six Sigma training are the ones that are best at making process improvements. While having skills from the Lean ‘toolbox’ is certainly a big plus, it is not the only thing that matters. Often, the personality traits of an individual Read more…
So today I went to the bank to put something in my safe deposit box. While I was there, I was given a refresher course on how to value the customer. Unfortunately, my lesson came from observing a poor example. In the past, I needed to show ID and sign in Read more…
I had a rather random thought this morning. It would not be much fun to work with a superhero, especially one with super-speed. Imagine the conversation with your boss. “Jeff, you’ve been doing OK, but you just can’t seem to keep up with the day shift. Superman and the Flash Read more…