I’m watching a web presentation on improving patient flow from the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI). I’m doing lean healthcare work now and the IHI is an excellent resource, including Steve Spear, formerly of Harvard (and referenced by Mike Lopez…
I’m on the road alot, as a consultant. I’m flying home to Texas today, so I’m about to check out of the hotel via the TV “On Command” menu. For all of the buttons on this remote, it sure would…
I’ve been very interested in applying lean to daily work routines and practices and have been (unfortunately very slowly) working on a series of posts that provide various ideas and examples on how lean practices can be applied to every…
Financial News – Yahoo! Finance So is the Shingo Prize more indicative of book quality than it is for lean company performance? Either way, congrats to Jim Womack, Dan Jones, Freddy Balle, and Michael Balle for their Shingo winning books.…
djournal.com To those who like to lump all “Japanese” automakers into one category, here’s some news on Nissan and their Mississippi plant that opened in 2003. Open less than three years, the Nissan assembly plant in Canton, just north of…
Chicago Tribune | Stuck at side of road: Here is a mind-numbingly long article about Ford’s problems. “Ford, they say, suffers from years of short-term thinking and billions in questionable investments. While it tried to adopt the highly-efficient management strategies…
Inside Bay Area – IBA – Alameda Times-Star – Home Here’s a pretty glowing article about how NUMMI, the Toyota/GM joint venture plant in Fremont CA, focuses on employee health and safety. When I visited NUMMI last year, one of…
I’ve decided to write today about some personal frustration that I am experiencing as part of my daily work. My discontent stems from a form of waste that I have thus far been unsuccessful in helping others to see, yet…
Chicago Tribune | Stuck at side of road: Interesting article here. “Ford, they say, suffers from years of short-term thinking and billions in questionable investments. While it tried to adopt the highly-efficient management strategies pioneered by Toyota, those efforts have…
Yesterday The Detroit Free Press published a collection of comments from auto industry analysts and GM leaders in a piece titled “5 Ways to Fix GM“ We’ve put a lot on the blog in recent months about the woes of…
Where It’s Been For years before starting the blog, I was the “emailing articles out to people guy.” I would often find an interesting article on lean manufacturing or supply chain concepts and would email them out to friends and…
Neosho Daily News Here is a nice story from Missouri about how La-Z-Boy is converting it’s plant (and others) from “batch and queue” to a lean, cellular production layout. Using lean to cut cycle times and costs is a great…