Yearly Archives: 2006

Another Quota Failure Example

Innocent People Placed On ‘Watch List’ To Meet Quota You could be on a secret government database or watch list for simply taking a picture on an airplane. Some federal air marshals say they’re reporting your actions to meet a … Continue reading

Posted in Data, Deming, Management, Psychology, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

VA Medical Care

The Best Medical Care In The U.S. [the broken link was removed] studies show that 3% to 8% of the nation’s prescriptions are filled erroneously, the VA’s prescription accuracy rate is greater than 99.997%, a level most hospitals only dream … Continue reading

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Univ Michigan Hospital Adopts Toyota Methods

U-M hospital takes page from Toyota [the broken link was removed] by Sharon Terlep. This continues the trend (trend rather than fad because I like that it is happening :-)) of hospitals adopting lean management methods. In health care, the … Continue reading

Posted in Health care, Lean thinking, Management, Management Articles | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Motivation

From the Deming Electronic Network: Incentives [the broken link was removed]: I don’t think motivation deserves to be discarded to the archives of “Arbitrary Goals.” I have to pose this, though: was Deming explicit on best ways to handle motivation? … Continue reading

Posted in Deming, Management, Psychology | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

Army Lean Six Sigma

Lean Six Sigma eases fiscal constraint challenges [the broken link was removed] by Beth Reece, Army News Service: During fiscal 2005, the Army Material Command saw $110 million in savings and cost avoidance by implementing Lean Six Sigma practices. By … Continue reading

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Lean Master Class with Jeffrey Liker (London)

I have very few details on this opportunity. All I know is what this Deming Electronic Network message [the broken link was removed] says. 24-hour Lean Master Class with Jeffrey Liker [the broken link was removed] Start: October 10, 2006 … Continue reading

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Lean Management Case Study

Learning the Rules…Playing to Win [the broken link was removed] (pdf) Lean concepts are taught through discussion and hands-on discovery, not lectures.” A popular part of the experience involves various simulation exercises including the beer game, which teaches that poorly … Continue reading

Posted in Lean thinking, Management, Management Articles, Process improvement, Quality tools, Systems thinking | Tagged | 1 Comment

Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, Kentucky

Photos from my visit to the Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, Kentucky. The design of the spaces (living and working) and tools was beautiful and, in fact, very much reminiscent of lean thinking ideas like 5s. On this trip, I … Continue reading

Posted in curiouscat.com, Travel photos | Tagged , | 1 Comment

The Birth of the Kaizen Blitz

The Birth of the Kaizen Blitz [the broken link was removed] What happens when productivity improves to the point where fewer people are needed? Bodek says a layoff is a mistake. He says that Toyota, rather than eliminating the poorest … Continue reading

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Lean Podcast – Bodek

The lean blog has created their first podcast (they plan to make this a monthly feature) focused on Kaizen. I recommend it and look forward to more. They take after the good interviews they have posted in the past, including: … Continue reading

Posted in Lean thinking, Management, Respect, webcast | 1 Comment