By Mike R. Lopez: The June 11, 2007 issue of BusinessWeek features a great story about 3M’s recent problems with Six Sigma, “At 3M, A Struggle Between Efficiency And Creativity.” As a Lean Six Sigma black belt at my company,…
Here’s a follow up to my earlier post on 5S not being about neatness (or for neatness’ sake). A reader submitted this anonymous comment that’s worth highlighting: Our plant has started a 5S program that is very counter productive. Tools…
‘Lean Production’ May Also be a Lean Toward Injuries People getting hurt would be a good indicator of Lean As Misguidedly Executed. The above link is from the American Psychology Association of all places, and they are talking about physical…
I, Cringely . The Pulpit . Lean and Mean | PBS Alas, we can’t sue IBM Global Services (not IBM manufacturing) for misappropriation of the word “Lean.” This is yet another example of L.A.M.E., “Lean as Misguidedly Executed.” I don’t…
Got this story during an email exchange, used with express permission: —————————– I saw my doctor yesterday and told him I was doing a lean publication, and he immediately started complaining about well-intended but impractical top-down measures being taken in…
IndustryWeek : When Not To Go Lean Here’s another concept of Lean As Misguidedly Executed. I could nitpick the title of the IW piece, from page 51 of the May 2007 issue, for being misleading. For a publication that promotes…
A blog reader, Tom, sent me a PDF of a column from the ASQ “Quality Progress” magazine, the April 2007 issue. The article is “Using Lean to Meet Quality Objectives,” by Dale K. Gordon. The ASQ website has a link…
Driving on the wrong side of the road — the myth of Japanese efficiency in car manufacturing A new book is out attacking Lean. Or maybe the book is actually attacking “L.A.M.E.”, or “Lean as Misguidedly Executed” at Rover. This…
When inventory is not waste – The Manufacturer.com It’s unfortunate that one of the early (1983) popular books about lean (or “just in time,” as was the fashion of the day) was titled “Zero Inventories.” Many people who didn’t read…
Here’s another example of what you might call “L.A.M.E” (“Lean” As Misguidedly Executed) instead of “Lean.” I received a disturbing report in my email inbox two weeks ago, a report that tries to co-opt Lean and the Toyota Production System…
TL;DR: Many so-called “Lean failures” aren’t really Lean at all. They’re examples of L.A.M.E.–Lean As Misguidedly Executed, where organizations misuse Lean to justify understaffing, layoffs, bureaucracy, or demeaning management practices. Real Lean, rooted in the Toyota Production System, focuses on…
A few weeks back, the British media was having a field day with reports of and complaints about what sounds like a horribly misguided “office lean” effort at a British government office. Read more about it. The picture below is…
