About a week ago, I was flying, and the passenger beside me knocked his water over right into my lap. Argh! I sent a Tweet posing a “contest with no prize” (as I didn’t want to stifle creativity with an…
Error proofing (aka “poka yoke” or mistake proofing) is such a powerful Lean method. Some people, unfortunately, think that Lean is only about speed or efficiency or cost. Going back to Toyota, the two pillars of TPS are Just…
I was running errands around Boston last Saturday, preparing for our move back to Texas (as my wife finishes her 12 month grad school program). In the course of these errands, I had some thoughts about Lean or related to…
Saturday morning, as part of my preparation to cook for a brunch gathering (I really enjoy cooking as a hobby, for those who don’t know me), I took a trip to a Boston Whole Foods location. One ingredient I needed…
I’m sitting here on a Sunday morning, drinking a cup of coffee I made at home with bottled water. Why bottled water? Because of a massive water main burst west of Boston – Boston and 30+ other communities currently have…
Working at the Lean Enterprise Institute gave me an unexpected daily benefit: I finally got to use a simple office kanban system instead of just helping others design one. In past roles, I’d set up kanban in factories and hospitals…
Unlike Thursday’s joke, this is real. It’s a video posted by the Association for Manufacturing Excellence (AME), featuring a full-time Lean professional, a “kaizen facilitator,” who is in the third year of coaching a youth (teenagers) hockey team in Ontario.…
I’m a very frequent computer user and I’m pretty good with the ole’ shortcut keys, on both Mac and Windows (I’m bi-lingual). I remember when I’ve had hospital teams as clients, I’d often show them how to do basic things…
Stepping away from serious issues, let’s talk about things that can really get heated — like washers and dryers (rim shot). Sorry for the bad joke… plus, I’m a drummer, so I love the chance to do a nice rim…
When I was in Sweden, the one hospital I visited had an automated coffee machine that made a variety of drinks. In getting a cup of coffee, or trying, I found an example of everyday error proofing. When I first…
by Dan Markovitz I took this picture of a UPS truck recently in NYC. (The orange signs say “SAFETY.”) At first I thought, “Great! UPS management cares about safety for its drivers. Terrific!” But then I looked at the signs…
It’s time for some coffee talk other than Starbucks… afternoon coffee break here. In Philadelphia last week during our LEI workshops (have you seen our new web design?), I was there three days, teaching my workshop for two and attending…
