Error Proofing Against Pirates
Like many, I closely followed the recent pirate seizure of the Maersk ship with the American crew and was happy when the captain was free by the U.S. Navy. I wondered how a tiny boat with four pirates could board…
Tag Military
These Wounded Soldiers Need Lean To Get Their Benefits?
Soldiers risk ruin while awaiting benefit checks I’ve read about this problem before… and at the risk of this turning too political, I’m going to address the issue. Wounded U.S. soldiers are reportedly waiting too long to get the benefits…
A Japanese Paper on the Spread of TPS
CURRENTS / ‘Toyota way’ inspires lean practices From a Japanese newspaper, an article about the impact the Toyota Production System is having on organizations around the world. The first example is the U.S. military, the Air Force more specifically: Since…
John Boyd, Lean Fighter Pilot Part II
Harry Hillaker–Father of the F-16 Toyota’s Value Innovation: The Art of Tension Mark has written before about “Everyday Lean“, those little examples of error-proofing or kanban or flow that we see in our day-to-day lives. In a similar vein, one…
John Boyd, Lean Fighter Pilot Part I
The OODA Loop & You I love examples of lean thinking that come from unexpected angles. Mike Gardner at the TPM Log recently brought up one of my favorite figures from the world of folks who embody lean without knowing…
Respect for People: US Army Edition
strategy+business, the e-magazine from Booz, Allen & Hamilton, reports how the US Army is changing the way that it shares knowledge within such a massive organization. The new system is a powerful example of how respect for people and a…
Teaching "How to Think" not "What to Think"
I heard a great phrase, the Army liaison officer to the White House, Col. Chris Hughes, saying on cable news, “we teach our young soldiers and officers how to think, not what to think.” From a quick Google search, this…
"Theory of Restraints"???
San Diego Business Journal I’ll assume the reporter misquoted the commanding officer and that he actually said “Theory of Constraints” (ala Goldratt) rather than the quoted “theory of restraints.” Kind of a funny misquoting, if that’s the case, in this…
U.S. Army saving $2 Billion from LSS
Army Article We’ve had a few posts about the LSS efforts of the military, including the Army and Air Force. Here’s an article from the Army (hat tip to iSixSigma’s blogs) that spells out the savings. It looks like they…
Another Lean Army Report
Digital50: USAEC News and more Business News Here’s another success story from the U.S. Army’s Lean Six Sigma program, increasing production to support troops in Iraq: “When the call came in to deliver the door kits we were experiencing production…
Lean in the Air Force
Thinking lean, a must for stronger, smaller Air Force Here’s an article about the Air Force’s ongoing Lean efforts, a Major General giving a speech about Lean in Turkey: General Rogers began with a big picture explanation of the Air…
Will Lean Outperform Bureaucracy?
Worldandnation: Scandal sires bureaucracy It’s too bad that the Lean Six Sigma component of the response to the problems at Walter Reed has been lumped into the category of “bureaucracy.” There are no less than nine blue-ribbon committees, task forces…
