I try not to use the word “Lean” as an adjective that means “better.” We see this a lot online, the so-called “Lean boarding pass” or other such things. If “Lean” becomes a synonym for “good” then it doesn’t really…
The chain Whole Foods is reportedly having inventory shortages and morale problems. It sounds like a real mess, but thankfully nobody is calling it Lean. Their "Order to Shelf" system reminds me of "Pull to Order" work that I was involved in at Dell about 20 years ago...
Here’s Part 2 of a post about the original NUMMI Team Member Handbook from 1984 (see Part 1 here). This, and other documents I’ll be blogging about, are part of Don Ephlin’s UAW office papers, archived at the Walter P. Reuther…
My guest for Episode #264 is a friend from here in the Dallas / Fort Worth area, Tyrone Butler. He is LSS Managing Partner at his company, Butler Active Business Solutions LLC. He has a background in the Air Force, he pre-dated…
I have been going through some old papers recently and I found two sheets of paper with hand-written thoughts or “truisms” that I had scribbled down in early 2002. The word truism, it turns out, doesn’t mean “true” so much as…
TL;DR: Automakers often overproduce because incentives reward shipping cars to dealers, not matching real demand. Excess capacity, revenue rules, and “channel stuffing” drive inventory waste–and healthcare faces similar pressures that create overutilization and distorted metrics. “Where the World’s Unsold Cars…
Following up on yesterday’s post that talked about “the old GM” putting cost ahead of quality, I sometimes get flashbacks to my days working for General Motors. I once slammed a greasy connecting rod down on my manager’s desk at GM.…
The Philadelphia Eagles are playing in an NFL playoff matchup tonight against the New Orleans Saints. I’d admired Eagles head coach Chip Kelly and his somewhat unlikely rise through the coaching ranks. He’s well known from his successful stint at…
I’m not sure Google has much of a market for a $299 media player (with the AppleTV and Roku players being under $100), but it’s noteworthy that the new Google Nexus Q is made in the USA (see picture at…
Regular readers know I started my career at General Motors from 1995 to 1997. After graduate school at MIT, I took a job at Dell, Inc. in 1999. At the time, Dell was at the peak of its reputation in…
There has been a lot of buzz over last Sunday’s New York Times article “How the U.S. Lost Out on iPhone Work.” (Free article). Editor’s Note: Why This Still Matters Today More than a decade later, this conversation is even…
This week, I’ve been reading and listening to a lot of articles about working conditions at the Foxconn facilities in China. These stories are primarily focused on Apple, but nearly any computer, gadget, or mobile device is made there, ranging…
