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At one restaurant an assistant removed an item after it had been around the track a few times (I counted 12 in one instance). I suppose this item was either tossed or perhaps consumed by an employee. However, at another restaurant I counted at least three dishes of something that looked like an egg mixed with fish mash (no, it didn’t look any better than I’ve described) go ’round and ’round for at least 40 minutes (I could tell because all three plates were of a unique color and easy to distinguish from the others).

Forty minutes at room temperature is enough to destroy even the most resilient piece of raw fish, don’t you think? Would some new and unsuspecting customer eventually select and actually eat one of these?

Since my observations in these two instances were only casual and totally unscientific, I believe I’ll have to launch a major Lean investigation of sushi practices in North America. This massive undertaking will obviously require an appropriate travel and meal budget. Yes, it will be a tough assignment but, in the end, someone has to do it. So why not me. I’ll report from time to time on my progress. Adam Zak, the Lean Recruiter

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for example, regarding freshness. from time to time, the sushi on the conveyor is commonly "discounted" by moving them to a cheaper-colored plate. (prices are indicated by different colored plates.) other shops will instead rearrange batches of sushi onto fewer plates. so three plates of 2x pieces will be quickly put onto two plates of 3x pieces each, an implicit discount popular with students and underpaid engineers. (english teachers often were paid more…) it also means fewer dishes need washing. both forms of discounts are visually obvious and also remind the staff that those servings need to be removed and discarded soon.

it's best to be seated immediately downstream of the serving station, so you get first dibs on whatever is freshest as soon as it's put on the conveyor.

but the trick to eating well at kaizen-zushi in japan is to start with the cheap(er) dishes first, and then gradually moving up-price, all the while keeping an eye out for the above discounts. if you start with the expensive stuff, you won't last until payday! :D

ahh, the memories…

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LINK

This was cool to watch, but I'd question if it's capital expense that's really necessary. Did they automate a bad process?

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