There’s an old expression about ‘getting into the weeds.’ Most people think it comes from golfers getting off the fairway into the thick stuff on the side, or from fishermen getting their lines tangled up in underwater growth. Regardless of the origin, in meetings in a work environment, it means Read more…
Lean afflictions abound in the continuous improvement workplace. One such ailment is Work Pace Disorder. With this disease, people cannot keep a consistent pace to their work. Typically, their pace depends upon the size of the pile in front of them, but it can also be impacted by other factors. Read more…
James Womack is one of the leading proponents of Lean in the US. He co-authored The Machine That Changed the World and Lean Thinking, two of the most widely read books on the topic of continuous improvement. He also founded the Lean Enterprise Institute and remains (as of 2020) a Read more…
Eli Whitney (December 8, 1765 – January 8, 1825) is most widely known for his invention of the cotton gin. What is more applicable to Lean, though, is his focus on quality, specifically interchangeable parts. The legend goes that he was awarded a contract to make muskets for the fledgling Read more…
John Francis (Jack) Welch (November 19, 1935 – March 1, 2020) was a long-tenured CEO during the heyday of General Electric (GE) from 1981-2001. While in charge of the company, shares rose a massive amount, around 4,000%. His legacy is both revered and hated by different people. He changed the Read more…
The work sequence is, not surprisingly, the order in which tasks are completed. Work sequence is also commonly referred to as the sequence of operations. Many tasks follow a logical order. Consider the assembly of a go kart. It makes sense that the tires are installed onto the wheels before Read more…
“WIFM” is a near-acronym for “What’s in it for me?” People tend to be rather logical, cause-and-effect types of creatures. They act when there is a reason to act. The basic premise of this acronym is that when that result of an action is in the best interest of a Read more…
Warehouses are organized storage locations. They can store both finished goods or raw materials and components. While some warehousing can be unavoidable, in general, these types of storage facilities go against most Lean principles. Raw materials and components should be ordered just-in-time and stored at the point of use. If Read more…
One of the basic goals of lean is to create flow. The rationale is that the more that material sits in one place, the more waste it creates. In most cases, this means a single piece of work moving through a connected process. This is where the term “one-piece flow” Read more…
“Workgroup” is a generic term used to describe an organization within a company that reports to a single individual. A workgroup may be a small team reporting to a lead, or a much larger group reporting to a department manager. In many traditional companies, workers are organized by function. In Read more…
Walk time is an important factor in continuous improvement. Its main impact is on the seven wastes and on Standard Work. Obviously, the problem is that walking takes time that could be better spent working on a process. Walking distance adds up in a surprising hurry. For example, if a Read more…
One of the key elements of any process is the workstation. Simply put, a workstation is the area that contains the work surfaces, fixtures, tools, and materials needed to perform a job. Classic thinking promotes the use of standard workstations. These off-the-shelf setups can be interchangeable, and often can be Read more…