Ohno Circle at the Bank
Working from home today, I ran out during lunch time (actually after lunch time in my effort to help level load area businesses) to the bank. As I entered, I saw this sign. By “ways to serve you better”, I…
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Article about Toyota, Cho, and Localization
Born in Japan made in USA – 05/30/06 – The Detroit News Online: Here is an article about Toyota’s Fujio Cho. I don’t take the view of another blog, which calls Toyota “racist” for having an solely Japanese board. I’m…
A Washington DC Lean Tour: Part 2 – Useful Manufactures
Here’s stop #2 on the tour, just having come from the Julia Child “Lean” Kitchen… Still at the National Museum of American History, there is a sign on the wall that talks about a little manufacturing history. The Society for…
Dell and HP Margins
Independent Online Edition > Business News Dell has been on the bad side of Wall Street for a while now, the stock is some 30% lower than it was in 1999. I might comment more later on Dell’s troubles, there…
Overcrowded ER killing patients
Vancouver Sun The doctors are complaining publicly in Vancouver. It’s a sad situation and I hate to nit pick or criticize. “At least once daily, during a peak in patient load, ‘the Emergency Department cannot handle the influx and has…
Lean Factory Design Part 1
I did some of my long-ago masters thesis work on factory design (you can read a rather dated article on the topic here). I’ve had the opportunity to design factory layouts ranging from a $1B investment down to a company…
It’s Toyota, not "Japan," that you’re fighting Mr. Ford
The Cincinnati Post – Don’t blame Japan Here’s the latest column from Jim Womack (read my Q&A with him here). On Nov. 22 after a speech at the National Press Club, Ford Motor Co. Chairman Bill Ford told the media,…
"The Customer Is God"
tompeters! This quote came from a frenetic Tom Peters slide deck (link above, see slide #14). “THE CUSTOMER IS GOD AND THE MARKET DECIDES EVERYTHING.” That sounds pretty much a lean philosophy to me. Make only what the customer wants,…
Lean Eyes on Customer Service
Evolving Excellence: Adventures in Customer Service I was already thinking of blogging on customer service adventures today when I saw the post by Kevin Meyers on his blog. His post is worth reading, as it illustrates how a lean process…
How much complexity is too much?
The Wharton School of Business publishes internet articles and editorial content bi-weekly covering a wide range of business topics and research. You can sign up for free at The latest edition included a special feature focused on complexity. I…
Toyota Drives Into NASCAR
Japanese Automaker Drives Into NASCAR – Yahoo! News Will they apply kaizen to NASCAR? :-) It was announced earlier this week that a NASCAR edition of the Camry, the best-selling car in the U.S. in seven of the last eight…
Toyota Leadership and Ford Leadership
Jim Press: ‘I was in love with cars every second’ Here is a bio of Toyota’s North American Sales President, Jim Press. It’s interesting to see the contrast between Toyota leadership and Ford leadership. Press has been with Toyota since…