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…
From today’s WSJ, in the article about GM’s possible plant closures: While the details of GM’s plans remain unclear, GM officials have said that their long-term strategy is to shift more production to lower-cost locations outside North America and to…
Here is installment #4 of the Jim Womack Q&A, where we discuss the car buying process, the teaching (or lack thereof) of lean principles in our universities, supplier relationships, and some of the blog reader Q&A. Part 1 Part 2…
Here is installment #3 in my exclusive Q&A with Jim Womack, co-author of Lean Solutions along with Daniel Jones. Here, Jim discusses more Lean Consumption and Lean Solutions concepts, discussing executive leadership types, the role of process thinkers, Dell Computer,…
Thanks again to Jim Womack for his participation. In the next few installments, we’ll move into questions about America’s manufacturing competitiveness, Dell Computer, and opportunities for entrepreneurs through Lean Thinking. Be sure to check back again for future installments. Part…
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 New Q&A February 2006 Be sure to see all five parts of the Q&A, links are above and at the end of Part #1. Thanks to James P. Womack, co-author…
Below is a link to Knowledge at Wharton article. Yes, it’s one more about the current plight of the US auto industry, but I found it to have an interesting tie to previous discussions in this forum around Lean Consumption.…
Evolving Excellence I’ve linked to them before, but there are a couple of excellent posts on the Superfactory Evolving Excellence Blog. Check them out! Thanks Cliff mentions the Travel Channel show “Made In America.” I agree, although the show is…
Here’s an interesting editorial commenting on the position of the US in the latest Global Competitiveness Report published by the World Economic Forum that I found particularly interesting. Industry Competitiveness: Where Do We Stand? At the very outset of the…
WSJ.com – subscription required Great article in Tuesday’s WSJ. I’m hoping a free copy will become available online. The article details how the “Detroit of Japan”, Nagoya, is undergoing a re-birth and is helping drive recovery in the Japanese economy…
