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Demand windows are periods of time when customer demand is relatively stable. For slow growth or mature products, the window can be extremely long. For other products, demand windows can change seasonally (think water skis or snow shovels), hour-by-hour (think fast food), or can trend steeply up or down. In Read more…
There are two basic definitions for decision point. The first is on a macro level. It is the latest point in time when a decision must be made within a plan. In many cases, it is advantageous to delay making a final choice until the last possible moment—it keeps options Read more…
Daily improvement is the strategy of making constant, incremental improvements each and every day in order see impressive long-term gains. While many people see kaizen as just a week-long event, it is much more powerful when an entire workforce engages in daily improvement efforts. Daily improvement does not have to Read more…
Cross-training employees is exactly what it sounds like—multiple people trained on each job, and each person trained on multiple jobs. Cross-training employees provides flexibility. It allows leaders to shift people around to cover for breaks, vacations, and illnesses. It also allows leaders to adjust staffing when there are shifts in Read more…
Not that many years ago, people could choose not to use computers. In fact, many people did not have access to a computer at home or at work. But things have changed. According to Statista, as of 2019, 89.3% of US households have a computer. And many of the last Read more…
Complexity is the state of having many interconnected parts. It is anything that has a lot of intricacy to it. The word has a negative connotation to it in Lean. So, what is excessive complexity from a Lean perspective? It is adding more to a process than is needed. It Read more…
The Lean office is the result of the progression of Lean from the shop floor to the office environment. It was logical and inevitable that continuous improvement would move from the assembly line to create the Lean office. Why? A significant portion of a manufacturing company costs are administrative. And, Read more…
Continuous improvement focuses on cost reduction—the actual dollar savings that increase profit. The term “savings”, though, has many nuances to it. Hard savings vs. soft savings. Hard savings are the ones with a specific invoice, credit card statement, or payroll expense associated with it. Soft savings are the ones that Read more…
Profit is the pile of money that is left over after all the bills are paid and the costs are tallied. There are many different types of profit for accounting purposes (net profit, gross profit, EBITDA). The ultimate goal of any company is to make a profit. It is not Read more…
Rework is the act of correcting a defect. Rework is obviously waste, and can be avoided by eliminating the root cause of the problem. The further downstream rework is done from where the error originally occurred, the more the problem costs to correct. Rework is most commonly initiated after an Read more…
Call centers are simply clusters of people answering phones for a particular purpose. It might be to provide information, as in a hotline for a recall. It could be for placing orders, for technical support, or for customer service. Call centers can be inbound, where customers are calling in, or Read more…
Fabrication is the act of taking raw stock material and turning it into a part for use in an assembly process. There are many different types of fabrication processes. The most common are Cutting Folding Machining Punching Shearing Stamping Welding Additive Manufacturing Watch Our Fabrication Video Let’s look at the Read more…