Click here for the site Here is a growing resource of book reviews of Lean Manufacturing Books, check it out. The reviews have a standardized approach: Book description: what’s the key message? How does it contribute to the lean knowledge…
Hilton hotels introduced a new standardized alarm clock that seems to be in all Hilton properties now (including where I am in Midland TX right now). The clock has some nice features, such as pre-programmed music buttons, so if you…
Conference To Hear How Hospital Saves Time (from This Is Lancashire) I’m sure they are doing good lean healthcare work at this hospital in the U.K.: THE boss of the Royal Bolton Hospital is to be the main speaker at…
Breaking the mold A good overview article is linked above, about applying lean, TPS, and systems thinking to healthcare. Two reports cited in the article: “Building a Better Delivery System: A New Engineering/Health Care Partnership” ($39) “Crossing the Quality Chasm:…
The Roots of Toyota’s Strength – AutoWeek Why is Toyota so successful? AutoWeek answers: “Toyota’s strength does not lie in a single core competency. It rises from a complex, interlocking set of extraordinary skills. These include working closely with suppliers,…
With Its Stock Still Lackluster, G.E. Confronts the Curse of the Conglomerate – New York Times Thanks to blog reader Steve for sending this my way. This article has some examples of how GE is using Lean to drive improvements…
Boeing to shut down C-17 production Boeing is planning to shut down production of a cargo aircraft. It’s a slightly different lesson than the Ford posting, below. Here, the lead times on A&D items are so ridiculously long (34 months),…
Ford making deep cuts in 2006 production – Yahoo! News: It’s sad to see factories shut down, temporarily or permanently, but it’s sad that Ford can’t sell enough vehicles to merit the production. Boring products (ala Ford Five Hundred) and…
Six Sigma Blog: Fire alarms: The Dell notebook scare and Six Sigma defect control CIO Magazine I’m sure you’ve heard of the cases of Dell laptops catching on fire and the resulting recall. Sony, the manufacturer of the batteries, offered…
Northwest advised workers to see treasure in trash | Reuters.com Here is an incredibly sad example of a company (or someone in the company) not having “respect for employees.” Northwest sent a “So You’ve Been Laid Off” guidebook with “helpful”…
Mike Rother, an excellent guy and also the guy that brought us all value stream mapping through the book Learning to See, has just written a reflection on pitfalls of value stream mapping for SME’s Lean Directions newsletter. Here are…
“Toyota’s Globalization Takes Shape through the Camry” The link above the full text of a speech by Gary Convis, who I really admire as a lean leader. Some excerpts: “To be a successful automaker or supplier in today’s competitive world,…
