GM teaches writers to build it right each time Updated: GM *does* do some kaizen in the class What we call Lean or TPS, they call “GMS”: General Motors Corp. touts its global manufacturing system as the reason it’s been…
Irony is Beautiful – TrumpetMaster Why these stories are on a trumpet player message board is beyond me (thank you Google Alerts for finding the keywords for me). These both sound like instances of Lean As Misguidedly Executed (L.A.M.E.) as…
FT.com / Business Life – In pursuit of happiness: Interesting quote from Jeff Liker in the Financial Times about TPS and an example of a hospital in the UK: “”There is no evidence that happy cows make better milk, and…
Sometimes these stories come across the wire in batches, there’s a flurry of positive Lean news this week: Pierce ablaze with orders Here’ s a story about “lean fire trucks” (and a horrible pun in the newspaper’s headline there, don’t…
managementwisdom.com Many folks don’t realize the relationship between Dr. W. Edwards Deming and Toyota. The link above shows some of the credit that Toyota gives/gave to Dr. Deming. While you’re on their site, check out the Deming resources, including the…
Cubicle Culture – WSJ.com: As the WSJ article mentions, my wife’s purse sometimes calls me… her Blackberry sometimes calls me if she didn’t put the keylock feature on. “Candy-bar style phones, with their keypads exposed, historically have been the culprits.…
By Norman Bodek, PCS Press Note: This originally appeared recently on the NWLean email list. This is re-printed with Norman’s permission. Consider it a preview of an upcoming LeanBlog Podcast. I believe that Toyota has always wanted to make great…
Army Article We’ve had a few posts about the LSS efforts of the military, including the Army and Air Force. Here’s an article from the Army (hat tip to iSixSigma’s blogs) that spells out the savings. It looks like they…
Ford Adopts Focus Time – Detroit News By Andy Wagner: I have blogged before on the inefficiency of multi-tasking and the virtues of more single-piece flow in the engineering environment. Judging by this article, it looks like somebody at Ford…
Last week, in calling for “guest bloggers,” I hinted at a “special project” that will be keeping me busy over the next few months. The tentative title is: “Lean Hospitals: Improving Quality, Patient Safety and Employee Satisfaction” It will be…
ESPN – Jersey change too costly for Raiders WR Porter – NFL Bad news for Oakland Raider Jerry Porter: The Oakland Raiders receiver said Wednesday he would have to pay $210,000 to switch his uniform from No. 84 to 81…
Seth’s Blog: “It’s always like this” Seth Godin has an example of chronic waste and poor planning at New York’s Javits Convention Center. He, with some colleagues, had to sit on the floor in the food court to eat because…