‘Surgery should be halted’ to clear hospital backlog Sub-optimizing decisions are a fairly universal human behavior, regardless of the industry (or continent). Lean teaches us to look at “value streams” that go across departments and to view operations from a…
I have an upcoming Podcast recording session Friday afternoon, August 3, on the topic of Lean and ergonomics. My guest will be Franz Schneider, the CEO of a firm, HumanTech, “a full-service human performance consulting firm specializing in workplace ergonomics.”…
I don’t know if this is a new Gmail feature, or if I just discovered it, but there’s some nice error proofing built into the web-based mail application. If it detects the word “attached” in an email body, but there’s…
The “Management Improvement Carnival” is a regular feature of John Hunter’s “Curious Cat” blog. John has had different bloggers hosting the carnival lately and now it’s my turn. So, here’s the Lean Carnival for the last two weeks, some of…
In support of the book I am writing, I am conducting a survey of Hospital organizations and their views and experiences with Lean. The survey will be distributed through some more formal channels, but I also wanted to post it…
NWA blames pilot absences: Detroit Free Press Updated: NWA calls back all its pilots as cancellations mount In another example of media/management blaming, Northwest Airlines is blaming pilots for forcing the airline into canceling flights at the end of July.…
CEO’s cost cuts feared too steep Radio Shack’s best days are long behind them, apparently (that’s not exactly breaking news). The most recent CEO, “turnaround” specialist Julian Day, has been there a year and the local paper (RS is HQ-ed…
Hiring, new floor plan help spur manufacturer – MLive.com Here’s a story about a small Michigan manufacturer that is using Lean as part of their growth strategy, as opposed to those who use it strictly for cost cutting in a…
Last week, I saw a number of news stories that caught my eye, non-manufacturing stories about systems (or lack thereof) and blame. What do the Transportation Safety Administration, the National Basketball Association, Detroit Public Schools and Northwest Airlines have in…
LeanBlog Podcast #28 features our friend and frequent guest, Norman Bodek, noted lean author, consultant, and President of PCS Press. This also celebrates the one-year anniversary of the Podcast, which featured Norman as our first guest. As I’ve given him…
I’ve fallen behind in my blogging the past few days, but I’ll be back on track. I saw a number of news stories that did catch my eye, non-manufacturing stories about systems (or lack thereof) and blame. What do the…
Since we’ve been talking about leadership and Lean, it’s coincidence that I got this email from a reader. I’ll let the blog readers answer this Posted with permission: I am [name withheld], 25yrs old, working for a small manufacturing firm…