New WSJ Article on Toyota
As Rivals Catch Up, Toyota CEO Spurs Big Efficiency Drive – WSJ.com Not sure if there will be a free version online (if so, I’ll try find it or someone post a link). Welcome, WSJ readers who found me via…
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New Contest — Pose a Lean Question or Challenge
We have winner (12/27) Hi, blog readers. It’s time for another Lean Blog contest. Our first was the “Everyday Lean” contest, where the winner won a copy of Jamie Flinchbaugh’s book The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Lean: Lessons from the Road.…
30 Rock: Jack Donaghy, Jack Welch, and the Sweet Juice of Mind Grapes
NBC’s 30 Rock gave us another gem of workplace satire in its first season–this time blending reverence, absurdity, and a strange reference to fruit. In one scene, corporate executive Jack Donaghy (played by Alec Baldwin) delivers another over-the-top line of…
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Lean ON SALE!
The Society of Manufacturing Engineers is offering a special holiday sale on their best-seller for 2006, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Lean: Lessons from the Road. The price on Amazon is $30, but SME is selling it for $25.50 for regular…
Reducing Paper Waste
GreenPrint’s green prince A core component of Lean thinking is the reduction or elimination of waste. Waste is sometimes defined as anything beyond the bare minimum that’s required to accomplish a task or goal. For a long time, I’ve noticed…
Quality of Work and Service, Part 2
Phoenix: Pizzeria Bianco – Traveler Reviews – Pizzeria Bianco…Very Stressful.. – TripAdvisor I wrote the other day about the wonderful high quality food at Pizzeria Bianco in Phoenix. I looked at some reviews online and some people are very unhappy…
Lean Manufacturing in China: Opportunities and Challenges – Featuring Jim Womack
Update 12/17: Click here for part 2 of the Womack podcast. LeanBlog Podcast #12 brings us a special guest, James P. Womack of the Lean Enterprise Institute, the author of many books, including the classic (published 10 years ago) Lean…
Quality of Work, Quality of Service
I’ve been reading the book Managing The Professional Service Firm by David Maister, which is targeted toward the management of professional firms: consulting, law, and finance for example. But, he has a concept that should resonate for any business: “Quality…
Applying Little’s Law at the Hospital
This post is partly in tribute to Peter and his Little’s Law blogging at shmula.com (it’s not all Little’s Law all the time, however). More on Little’s Law at wikipedia. Or check out the excellent textbook Factory Physics for even…
Cutting Corners or Cutting out Waste?
cbs4boston.com – Pats Install Synthetic Turf At Gillette Stadium I was watching the Bears/Patriots game yesterday and the announcers mentioned that a new artificial turf surface was installed for the Patriots, replacing the old natural grass field that got real…
Lean in a Danish School
A blog reader from Denmark, Peter, emailed me about a school that is applying lean and “Japanese production philosophies” (no kidding). The original article is linked, but it’s in Danish. The photo is from a second article on the same…
Updated Standard Work
For what it’s worth, I’ve updated my “Standard Work” document for the blog. My last update was back in May. This is probably the fourth or fifth revision since I started that document. It’s a small reminder — standard work…