All posts from Mark Graban’s LeanBlog.org, including podcasts, announcements, articles, and more.
KRT Wire | 06/14/2005 : Above is an article that talks about Boeing and Airbus moving airplane production into China. This item struck me as very Toyota like in the attitude: “Ubiquitous white poster boards with company slogans hang in…
www.focusedperformance.com Ah, end of quarter time. Predictable craziness that happens four times a year. How are your lean efforts impacted by end of quarter? Does standard work and standard WIP get thrown out in an effort to “do everything you…
Seth Godin : Seth’s Blog: The seduction of “good enough” Seth Godin is a fantastic writer on marketing, product development, and innovative ideas. This thought struck me, though, as it could easily apply to our factories: Are they “good enough”?…
ContraCostaTimes.com | 06/12/2005 Thomas Friedman’s book “The World Is Flat” is great reading for anyone looking at issues of globalization. This article is nice summary of sorts, with reference to his “Dell Theory of Global Security” (or something like that)…
TPS – Lean Manufacturing and Process Improvements: Lean Articles An intriguing set of articles about being effective lean leaders, especially when you’ve been managing for years in a non-lean system. The article starts with the blunt assessment: “Whatever your company…
FT.com / Columnists / China Economic Quarterly: This column makes the argument that Chinese companies that buy Western firms maybe aren’t getting such a good deal (such as the Lenovo transaction for the IBM computer business) “For all the ballyhoo…
I had a conversation with another experienced lean person (she is in the auto industry) who commented about how she once saw a business card with a title that was eye-catching: “Director of Discipline” How many of our lean efforts…
I’ve been reading a well-known book about entrepreneurship and small business, The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It. What continually amazes me about the book is that, written in 1995, it describes…
MySA.com: Business Here is an article the discusses attempts to get suppliers into the official Toyota supplier park near the San Antonio plant. “It is a special situation indeed that the San Antonio plant will have a supplier park with…
Slashdot | The Laptop Supply Chain Slashdot.org commentary (with a link to a free WSJ article). The WSJ article discusses the somewhat hidden laptop supply chain. Dell used to do “final assembly” (just a few last components) in Austin or…
I saw the results of a Harris Interactive online poll, which said only 3.6% of respondents thought “large companies” are “most likely to have good customer service.” Why is that people feel that way? From a lean or TQM perspective…
The Celestica CEO says:“… he noted benefits from restructuring and lean manufacturing. Lean manufacturing is a series of initiatives that collectively boost efficiency and is adding about 30 basis points to the company’s bottom line. Celestica is in the midst…
