By Andy Wagner: I know how much Mark dislikes headlines that rhyme with lean, but perhaps he’ll make an exception for this example of everyday lean: At a hotel this weekend, somewhere between my first and second Kleenex, I realized,…
Harry Hillaker–Father of the F-16 Toyota’s Value Innovation: The Art of Tension Mark has written before about “Everyday Lean“, those little examples of error-proofing or kanban or flow that we see in our day-to-day lives. In a similar vein, one…
The OODA Loop & You I love examples of lean thinking that come from unexpected angles. Mike Gardner at the TPM Log recently brought up one of my favorite figures from the world of folks who embody lean without knowing…
Southwest. Way Southwest. – NY Times Jeff Bailey at the New York Times wrote a great article about Southwest Airlines and their legendary approach to the key lean principle of respect for people. After talking about Southwest’s propensity for cross-dressing…
Lean bloggers tend to be hard on the commercial airline industry. It’s not unjustified considering how they’ve treated their own employees and their customers in recent years, and the lack of profitability that goes with that poor treatment. I suspect…
A poignant story showed up in the Washington Post during the recent GM strike that hits at the heart of the principle of respect for people. It came from the Saturn plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee. Management, required to work…
Review by Andy Wagner: Name of the Book: Boeing Versus Airbus: The Inside Story of the Greatest International Competition in Business Author: John Newhouse Publication Date: 2007 Book Description: Boeing Versus Airbus is not exactly a lean book, but it…
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…
Russell Roberts on Cafe Hayek had an interesting commentary the other day about the Power of Competition, relaying a bit of the story of Billy Beane and the Oakland A’s told in the book Moneyball: The Art of Winning an…
I had an internal factory tour that reminded me of Mark’s recent blog on the Not So Lean Factory Tour. The plant was not nearly the horror story Mark experienced, and in fact, it was one of best examples of…
Kevin Meyer at Evolving Excellence commented the other day on the Wall Street Journal article about Boeing’s recent supply chain challenges. I’d like to add to what he said from a broader perspective on the industry, and how I think…
Monday afternoon, I have the honor of being part of a meeting to discuss “Project Executio.” The bosses complain that engineers in our department aren’t getting our cost reduction effort closed out fast enough. It’s true. We aren’t making fast…