Great Posts from Quint Studer
Quint Studer is a former hospital CEO who I’ve mentioned a lot here. He has an outstanding blog now. In his issues, he doesn’t talk about “lean” per se, but it absolutely applies, whether you are in healthcare or any…
Year 2007
More on Healthcare Incentives
In China, Preventive Medicine Pits Doctor Against System – WSJ.com: Continuing the discussion from Evolving Excellence, today’s WSJ has a well timed article. This isn’t just an American problem…. seems like human nature, this conflict: “Dr. Hu Weimin has attracted…
Lean is Jazz
Hot corporations know how to swing – USATODAY.com Interesting article in the USA Today business section yesterday, an interview with jazz great Wynton Marsalis about how jazz concepts can apply to business. I’m a drummer (or at least used to…
"Be Careful" is Not Enough
I was boarding an American Airlines Super 80 at DFW yesterday, I noticed a warning sign on the controls of the jet bridge. As I’ve said before, “warning signs are not error proofing.” That certainly applies here. There was a…
Trying to Reduce Hospital Overprocessing
A Novel Plan Helps Hospital Wean Itself Off Pricey Tests – WSJ.com Kevin, over at Evolving Excellence, raised a similar issue about misaligned incentives and misleading metrics in healthcare (thanks for the mention, Kevin). This article, linked above, from the…
Nissan and Lean Dealerships
From today’s Automotive News (not freely available online): Industrial engineers trained in the fine points of Japanese manufacturing are about to descend on some Nissan dealerships. Their goal: teach retailers an industrial practice called “standardized work,” an auto factory method…
RFID as a Workaround
I’ve been wondering for a while what the value of my CPIM certification is (a previous employer paid for it). APICS has been trying to reinvent itself as more of a lean organization rather than just being an MRP methodology…
Jim Baran on Recruiting Lean Talent and the State of the Lean Jobs Market – LeanBlog Podcast #16
LeanBlog Podcast #16 is the first part of two with Jim Baran, the Owner of Value Stream Leadership, a leading recruiting firm that specializes in Lean talent. I’ve known Jim for a few years now and he’s helped me and…
To Merge or Not To Merge… Lean & TPS?
By Bill Hanover of ThroughPut Solutions It was proposed on Wikipedia (an open source online encyclopedia that anyone can edit,) that the main article regarding “Lean Manufacturing” should be merged with the main article regarding “The Toyota Production System.” Maybe…
Toyota’s Factory Medical Center
Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog » In-house Health Clinics Tip of the hat to John for finding this article about companies bringing some doctor clinic functions in-house (or at least on site) as a way of reducing medical expenses. The…
Healthy Addictions
I was working in my home office this morning, about 9 AM. It’s icy, cold, rainy here in Texas. It was below freezing and raining, yet here comes a jogger running down the street. I thought, wow, she’s nuts. I’m…
Calling DFW or Texas Lean Companies
Personal request — I’m looking for a Dallas/Fort Worth area company that is in an advanced state of lean implementation. (that’s quite a flexible definition of what “advanced” means, obviously). West Texas (Lubbock, Midland/Odessa, Abilene, El Paso) or Central Texas…
