In my consulting travels, I often find instances where common sense dictates. Unfortunately, it is not common sense until you open up your boundaries and venture a bit up and down the value stream to see what your internal suppliers and customers are doing. Learn more about ‘looking over the Read more…
The cost of poor quality (COPQ) is the aggregate impact of an organization’s errors and defects on the company. It includes costs associated with scrap, rework, inspection, data management, data collection, redesign, warranty claims, lawsuits, lost sales, loss of reputation, additional inventory, and any other expense that is incurred to Read more…
Most people look at a factory, and just see a building where people make things. They just see chaos. They see people mixed with inanimate objects, sprinkled with the occasional robot. But there is more to it than that. A factory is a living, breathing, active thing. It has a Read more…
A current state map is a snapshot of how a process is done today. It may be a current state process flowchart, or a current state value stream map (VSM), but the principle is the same. It shows the current methodology of how you produce products or perform services for Read more…
Nagara is a Japanese term meaning “while doing something”. It simply means to do more than one thing at a time. For example, a person may be able to assemble two parts while walking. In practice, though, the application of the nagara principle is limited. In most cases, a process 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…
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.
I was recently reading a rather old book on customer satisfaction by Bob Tasca. He had an interesting quote about failure. “Failure isn’t failure at all—it’s information.” Now, I am not saying to go out trying to fail just to gather information. But, when you try a lot of new Read more…
I had dinner last night with a friend I hadn’t seen in a number of years. We did a lot of catching up, but because we first met working for a company that was just ramping up its commitment to Lean, we talked a lot about continuous improvement. I made Read more…
Recently, a study in New York City found that nearly three quarters of cabbies had charged an out-of city rate for rides within the city, at about twice the cost to the passenger. Now, the actual numbers come out to 1.8 million out of 360 million trips. The article I Read more…
I was working on a project for a consulting client and took a short break to see what was new in the news. I came across an interesting article about a late-night (alcohol-fueled) exchange between a blogger (the one fueled by the alcohol) and Steve Jobs of Apple. It was Read more…
First pass yield (FPY) is a metric that indicates the percentage of items moving through a series of processes without any problems. The basic equation for first pass yield is: First Pass Yield = Process 1 Yield * Process 2 Yield *…*Process ‘n’ Yield As you can see, the more Read more…