Root Causing the Offshoring of Jobs
I had an “ah-ha!” moment last night. I was reading a book during the NBA Finals (no point really watching closely until the last three minutes) and it struck me: Very often, I beat up on companies and CEO’s for…
Month June 2006
Don’t Waste My Time (and Don’t Hang Up On Me)
One of the main principles of Womack and Jones’ Lean Solutions book is “don’t waste my time.” I had to teach a local company that principle yesterday. Or I tried. Long story short: home contractor company had set a 5…
A Washington DC Lean Tour, Part 5 – Camden Yards, Early Computers, and More
I got sidetracked from the DC lean tour. I’ll wrap it up with this installment. The tour starts here, with Part 1. See all of the posts here. Random lean images and thoughts from the trip: I was able to…
The Need for Lean Laboratories
Hospitals move to cut dangerous lab errors Here is a free version of a WSJ article from last week. I know I’ve been posting about “lean healthcare” a lot this week, I hope that is of interest to the manufacturing…
Amazing Single Piece Flow MD Office
MedQIC – Patient-Centered Care Supported by an EHR The link above (and this audio-video presentation with similar content) tell an amazing story of a private practice family physician who has a “single patient flow” process in his office. This doctor…
So More like Summer Camp than a Prison?
via Evolving Excellence Foxconn, the contractor that makes the iPods is being more specific now in their denials about employee mistreatment in China. Please check out my main blog page at www.leanblog.org The RSS feed content you are reading is…
The Need for Lean Healthcare
Drug in Fatal Medical Error A Known Hazard in Hospitals | theledger.com Here is another sad example of the need for lean methods for quality improvement in healthcare. The story here is about a pregnant woman who died after being…
A Lean Budget?
From the June 26th edition of Business Week, The Welch Way by Jack and Suzy Welch was called Stop the B.S. Budget (need subscription to read). I probably will not get much argument from people on this: budgeting as it…
WSJ Blows It On Lean
WSJ.com – It’s Not Easy Being Lean Free version via Pittsburgh Post-Gazette I was disappointed with a “Managing” column in the Wall Street Journal today, with the headline “It’s Not Easy Being Lean.” It starts with a premise that being…
Happy Father’s Day!
I’d like to wish all the fathers out there a happy Father’s Day. And if you’re not a father, then a happy Father’s Day to your father. Since leadership is a prime component of lean success, it belongs on this…
A Lean Business Idea?
Ok, so as much as I gripe about non-lean companies sometimes, I really do like to try to think positively. Working in lean healthcare certainly gives me those moments, particularly when I read about success stories and lean momentum building…
Ford; Red, White, and Hypocrite
Ford’s Swipe At Toyota Sounds “Desperate” So we’ve been reading all year about Mark Fields, who has the best executive mullet (a.ka. “hockey hair“) I’ve seen in some time, and his “Way Forward” plan for saving Ford. From a marketing…
