Along with the profiles of this year’s Industry Week’s Best Plants Award, the latest issue includes the latest census data on continuous improvement. Of course, a survey question being checked on a website is far from direct observation (or gemba),…
by Jamie Flinchbaugh, co-author of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Lean I just got my copy of Hoshin Kanri for the Lean Enterprise. Of course, I did have the chance to read a review copy, and offered up my endorsement for…
There are certain things we learn while we grow up that are unquestioned – in fact, unquestionable. There are 26 letters in the alphabet, 5 x 5 = 25, there are 4 sides in a square, and there are 9…
BusinessWeek wrote about Segway, the wonderfully inventive two-wheel transportation device that was supposed to revolutionize how cities are built. Of course, I don’t know anyone who is currently building a new city from the ground up, but that’s a different…
Denso, a Toyota supplier, is one of the few automotive suppliers in the US that’s growing. Why? One, of course, is that they’re very tied to Toyota, who is growing. That’s always nice. But they are also winning business from…
We will be bringing a new class around the country, at least to 4 cities. If you have learned that a lean transformation strategy takes more than a little training and kaizen, you may want to see The Tactics of…
As posted by LeanBlog.org founder Mark Graban, there is a new website available that focuses on helping individuals who want to guide their own self-learning, called The Lean Library. It includes a comprehensive list of lean books, book reviews, links…
When people talk about labor, they often focus on unions, disengaged employees and high wages. But there is a much bigger problem facing manufacturers today – a real skills shortage. Industry Week focused on this topic in a special report…
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…
Onshoring may not be the counter-argument to offshoring, particularly since most of the cases are just KEEPING work in the US when it could have moved overseas. That’s not really onshoring, it’s just preventing offshoring. This article from The Manufacturer…
Here’s some not-so-interesting news that I believe indicates not being focused on the customer and the subsequent focus on waste elimination. Harley-Davidson is changing their ticker symbol on Wall Street from HDI to HOG. Read the press release here. How…
It is often said “what gets measured gets done.” I don’t quite believe that, but measurement has a clear impact on behaviors within an organization. Most of those behaviors are unfortunately negative. You can do more harm than good with…
