A culture of learning makes the difference, not “low inventory” Last year, I wrote a post that criticized those, including the Wall St Journal, who claimed that Toyota was “abandoning” the Toyota Production System or that strategically adding some inventory…
Thanks as always to Ryan McCormack for this… there’s always so much good reading, listening, and viewing shared here by him! Get these directly from Ryan via email. Insights about improvement, innovation, and leadership… Operational Excellence, Improvement, and Innovation Deliberate…
You’re a retailing or manufacturing executive who hasn’t heard of MIT’s “Beer Game” management simulator? Then you’re probably swimming in a lot of excess inventory. If you’re an executive who also incorrectly thinks that “just in time” supply chains somehow…
Listen: Here is the episode if you want to stream the audio: As I did two weeks ago, when Jamie Flinchbaugh and I talked about “Lean 101” training (and should you skip it), I’m sharing another episode (as a “bonus”…
Thanks as always to Ryan McCormack for this… there’s always so much good reading, listening, and viewing shared here by him! News, blogs, articles, resources, and links about creating value, continuous improvement, innovation, and leadership. Healthcare – Creating Value for…
In Episode 27, Mark and Jamie switch things up a bit with a morning recording of the show. While we could have just started our whiskey early, instead we decided to switch to a beverage that shares much of the…
Thanks to Professor Peter Hines and the Enterprise Excellence Network for inviting me to present this webinar. Mine was the first in a series of free webinars that they are hosting in the coming weeks, presented by Chris Butterworth, Torbjorn…
First, an announcement… you can enter to win one of three eBook copies of Measures of Success: React Less, Lead Better, Improve More. Unlike the previous Amazon giveaway, this contest is open to everybody, regardless of your country. Thanks for…
tl;dr: Lean doesn’t mean “zero inventory” — and it doesn’t mean eliminating waiting rooms either. In both manufacturing and healthcare, low inventory and less waiting are outcomes of capable, reliable processes, not goals to chase through absolutes. For decades, manufacturers…
Mark’s note: Today’s guest post is by Paul Critchley and he brings up important points about not reducing inventory too low before improving the capabilities of your system. When I was first introduced to Lean in the late ’90’s, a…
The Wall St Journal loves writing about how “Just In Time” (JIT) is a risky inventory strategy. See my past posts about how the WSJ is so often wrong on this. The WSJ seem to only understand Lean as JIT, as opposed…
My friend Ryan, who works at a hospital in Canada, sent me a few pictures of an Industrial Engineering textbook that he used almost 20 years ago. He wrote: “I was cleaning up my upstairs when I came across a…
