I walked into my hotel room after three nights of complaining about the internet and found a stuffed bear on the bed. “Beary Sorry,” it said. Hampton Inn logo on the chest. Next to it, a handwritten apology note. I’d…
Clients of mine always end up saying something like “Lean really gets into your head… it’s hard to turn off” – or at least one on every project ends up saying that. That’s a good thing… a way of thinking,…
ABC News: Airport Security To Be Easier for Families? I am probably giving the Transportation Security Agency waaaaaay too much credit here, but this story made me think of the “PDCA” cycle of “Plan Do Check Act” (known as the…
Yahoo News Story By Mike R. Lopez: I saw this story about United Airlines charging customers to check a SECOND bag. Not the fifth or sixth bag, but NUMBER TWO! This reminded me of a training slide that we have…
If you’re a results thinker, you should feel reassured that 2007 had zero U.S. air travel fatalities for the first time in a long time, the continuation of an apparent downward trend. 2007 a safe year for U.S. airlines If…
DFW Airport | pegasusnews.com DFW International Airport will distribute more than $10,000 in “DFW Bucks” on December 20 and 21 to encourage families to check in during off-peak times to avoid the Christmas checkpoint crunch, offering children 12 and under…
This past week, I stumbled through a systemic problem that might not ever be solved, namely the National Car Rental service at Terminal 3 of the Toronto Pearson International Airport. I say a “systemic” problem, because I’ve seen the same…
The Middle Seat – WSJ.com Quick story here, not so much about Lean but about customer service and general incompetence. The WSJ shares data about how complaints about the Transportation Security Administration have jumped: “Complaints to the TSA about security…
TSA considers reservations for airport security – USATODAY.com I’m not normally a fan of the TSA, but this proposal actually seems somewhat reasonable and reminds me of the Lean concept of “heijunka,” or level loading of a process. A steady…
I’m going to try to tie this into Lean, or so I think. I had the most mind-numbing experience at the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (my home airport, Terminal A, near gate A35, last Monday night (Labor Day). As I…
The Middle Seat – WSJ.com: Here’s an example of the every day use of the word “lean” that, unfortunately, means just about the exact opposite of what we mean with “Lean Manufacturing” or the Toyota Production System: “Just like airport…
Small Jets, More Trips Worsen Airport Delays – AOL Money & Finance Here’s a free version of an article that originally appeared in the WSJ last week. Going back to the book Lean Thinking, Womack and Jones talked about their…
