Work instructions are the specific details on how to do a job. They go hand-in-hand with Standard Work. Standard Work lays out the big picture sequence of the work; work instructions spell out the step-by-step methods used to do a job. Work instructions are characterized by: Pictures of how work Read more…
Let me list three of my favorite things: Bacon (and other assorted breakfast meats) Kaizen Rockets So imagine my delight when a friend on Facebook posted one of the most brilliant minds of our time combining all three. Now I will warn you. This man’s intellect is so advanced that Read more…
I try to live by the words I preach. I keep my office reasonably well 5S’ed, so I seldom have to look more than a few seconds to find something. I rarely miss deadlines, and hardly ever make promises that I can’t keep (with the exception of two podcasts I Read more…
Imagine two call centers. One is ‘traditional’. That means that the call sequencing goes to the least busy operator or the first available operator. (Those options area actually listed on a website for a major call center system manufacturer). The other is a Lean call center. They always have the Read more…
I place a lot of value on integrity. I was always pretty honest growing up. I once returned a pair of Susan B. Anthony dollars to a lunch lady when she gave them to me instead of two quarters. And my parents had a knack for finding all sorts of Read more…
I was talking to a consulting client the other day, and mentioned that it would be helpful to use a video camera to record a secondary process that would affect a kaizen team’s decisions. This other location is quite a long ways away, so it would chew up a lot Read more…
The Office Process Summary Sheet provides an at-a-glance view of the gains an improvement team has made in a kaizen event. Get Our Office Process Summary Sheet for FREE The Office Process Summary Sheet has some of the most common measures of improvement already filled in, and also provides a Read more…
The Process Recording Sheet is primarily used to document steps in an office environment during a process walk. Because of the non-linear flow in an office, longer cycle times, computer processes that are hard to monitor, and the frequency with which office workers change tasks, a Time Observation Sheet is Read more…
The Office Process Questionnaire is a tool to help gather information from office workers during the process walk of a kaizen event. Get Our Office Process Questionnaire for FREE It has a series of standard questions, as well as space to record questions specific to the process under review. Adding Read more…
Managing workload in an office setting can be a challenge. Use the Office Process Capacity Form to determine whether a process is sufficiently staffed to meet demand. This form takes the FTE (full time equivalent) load into account, as many office workers have multiple roles. Get Our Office Process Capacity Read more…
The Kaizen Newspaper is a tool for both managing workload during a kaizen event, and for keeping track of the follow-up activities. Get Our Kaizen Newspaper Form for FREE During the event, I recommend posting a version of this form up on a flipchart (in marker), or at least tape Read more…
The Kaizen Audit Form is one of the sustaining tools used to lock kaizen gains in place. It is very easy to backslide after a project when there is no process in place to keep people from reverting to old methods of work. Get Our Kaizen Audit Form for FREE Read more…