Case of the Vanishing Airport Lines – WSJ.com This article made me think of Lean in the sense that Alaska Air radically rethought the passenger check in process and achieved some dramatic results: In Anchorage, the airline expected a 20%…
Listen: LeanBlog Podcast #30 is an interview with Bob Emiliani, author of the books Better Thinking, Better Results, and Real Lean: Understanding the Lean Management System (Volume One) (and Volume Two). Bob had a long career at United Technologies, Pratt &…
Mattel is the latest victim in the “poison products from China” series (the “poison train,” as The Consumerist blog calls it). Victim is absolutely the wrong word to use, considering Mattel chose to source from China and admitted their own…
In support of the book I’m currently writing, I have created a comprehensive survey for hospitals about Lean practices and implementation. Click Here to take survey The intended audience for the survey is healthcare only, whether you are already implementing…
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart – Comedy – IFILM I’m not sure where I heard the expression, but I generally love the sentiment of the phrase:“Just because it’s easy to measure doesn’t mean it’s important.” Many of our metrics…
I was completely stunned by the WSJ headline this morning that announced Bob Nardelli, formerly of GE and Home Depot, is going to be CEO at Chrysler. Many of the actual industry experts were stunned too, so don’t feel too…
Here are some updates on the “Bad Systems” I featured last week, Northwest Airlines and the NBA. I know I promised more positive posts, but let me follow up on these stories… First, the NBA. I don’t have a link…
Serious Security Questions at Sky Harbor Airport New interim security director named at Sky Harbor Here’s another story from last week about bad systems, and bad management to boot. This one hits close to home since I used to fly…
NWA blames pilot absences: Detroit Free Press Updated: NWA calls back all its pilots as cancellations mount In another example of media/management blaming, Northwest Airlines is blaming pilots for forcing the airline into canceling flights at the end of July.…
I’ve fallen behind in my blogging the past few days, but I’ll be back on track. I saw a number of news stories that did catch my eye, non-manufacturing stories about systems (or lack thereof) and blame. What do the…
If you’re reading via RSS, that’s great, I support free full-text RSS feeds for my readers (over 800 now via RSS, compared to about 500 who visit the website). One thing you’re probably missing out on, unless you do visit…
Forbes.com – Partial Production to Start Tuesday Reuters Article – Toyota to Resume Full Production Wednesday What do the Chicken Littles at the WSJ have to say now? After the earthquake in Japan last week, the WSJ ran a predictable…