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,…
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…
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…
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…
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…
‘Black Monday’ looms over Ford’s future – 01/22/06 – The Detroit News: Good luck tomorrow when the “Way Forward” plan is introduced. It sounds like some tough cuts have to be made, the sad reality is that Ford has way…
WSJ.com – As Airlines Pull Out of Dive, United Charts Its Own Course ($$ Subscription) Most of what we hear about airlines is “low cost” this or “cutting costs” that. Everyone is chasing Southwest’s low labor costs or copying them…
Society of Manufacturing Engineers Here’s a good overview of the Toyota/GM “Joint Venture” plant, NUMMI. I put “JV” in quotes because, sure there is joint ownership, but it’s not really jointly managed. A manager at NUMMI says: Most people are…
Article Link This is a great Q&A with Seizo Okamoto – president of Toyota’s truck plant in Princeton Indiana focusing on the challenges of teaching the Toyota Production System to US workers. The focus on teaching as the best method…
TL;DR:The late Norman Bodek argues that Lean fails not due to poor workers or missing tools, but because management systems prioritize short-term results over developing people. Toyota’s real advantage, he says, is its long-term commitment to respect, learning, and empowering…
News 8 Austin | 24 Hour Local News | LOCAL NEWS This begs the question — how many uniform/clothing factories are left in the U.S. that could make these uniforms? There must be some, I mean New Balance uses lean…
CNN – Nov. 22, 2005 How ironic that we’re reading about mass layoffs in the “big, old, and slow” companies (such as the auto industry) while there is a projected shortage of skilled manufacturing workers. There’s no shortage of people…