Category Archives: Process improvement

Think Long Term Act Daily

Posted on January 17, 2007 by John Hunter

Great stuff from the DailyKaizen [the broken link was removed]: Over the last three months we have been working to incorporate PDCA discipline into our Model Line planning process. We are quite literally building a new management system in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Management, Process improvement, Systems thinking | Tagged Systems thinking | 1 Comment

Making Better Decisions

Posted on January 9, 2007 by John Hunter

Comment on: When Times Are Tough, Do You Make Better Decisions? [the broken link was removed] When times are tough you are more likely to do something – take some action, make some decision. When times are good, many are … Continue reading →

Posted in Management, Process improvement, Psychology | Tagged critical thinking, Process improvement | 1 Comment

Epidemic of Diagnoses

Posted on January 3, 2007 by John Hunter

What’s Making Us Sick Is an Epidemic of Diagnoses by Dr. Welch, Dr. Schwartz and Dr. Woloshin: For most Americans, the biggest health threat is not avian flu, West Nile or mad cow disease. It’s our health-care system. True, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Health care, Management, Process improvement, Psychology, Quality tools | Tagged control chart, Deming, process thinking, Quality tools, tampering, variation | 4 Comments

Holding Improvement Gains

Posted on December 26, 2006 by John Hunter

The Hard Part: Holding Improvement Gains [the broken link was removed] by Ron Snee The long term goal should be to combine all improvement initiatives into an overall improvement system and create the management framework to sustain that system. Thus, … Continue reading →

Posted in Management, Process improvement | Tagged culture, Psychology | Comments Off

How to Improve

Posted on December 12, 2006 by John Hunter

My management philosophy is guided by the idea of seeking methods that will be most effective.* There are many ways to improve. Good management systems are about seeking systemic adoption of the most effective solutions. What this amounts to is … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Management, Process improvement, Quality tools, Respect, Systems thinking | Tagged blame, build capacity, continual improvement, curiouscat, Deming, management, managing people, process thinking, Quality tools, Systems thinking, tips | 12 Comments

European Blackout: Human Error-Not

Posted on November 18, 2006 by John Hunter

German utility E.On says major European blackout was caused by human error [the broken link was removed] Germany utility E.On AG said Wednesday that a European-wide blackout earlier this month that left millions without power was the result of human … Continue reading →

Posted in Customer focus, Lean thinking, Management, Process improvement, Quality tools, Respect | Tagged blame, curiouscat, Customer focus, mistake-proofing, Process improvement, process thinking, Systems thinking | 2 Comments

Evidence-based Management

Posted on October 3, 2006 by John Hunter

Bob Sutton’s writing includes the excellent article “Management Advice: Which 90% is Crap?” (which we discussed in: Management Advice Failures) and the Knowing Doing Gap. I just discovered his blog today which is quite good: Work Matters. A recent post includes some good advice on data and process improvement Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Data, Deming, Health care, Management, Process improvement | Tagged economic data, evidence based management, Management | 1 Comment

Leaving Quality Behind – Again No

Posted on September 28, 2006 by John Hunter

Is PAT Leaving Quality Behind? [the broken link was removed] The intent of PAT was to advocate a more scientific and methodical approach to product development, scale-up and production. The impact of PAT will be felt in all sectors of … Continue reading →

Posted in Health care, Management, Process improvement | Tagged Management, quality, Quality tools | Comments Off

Toyota Targets 50% Reduction in Maintenance Waste

Posted on August 30, 2006 by John Hunter

Inside the Toyota Maintenance Reduction 50 Percent by Paul V. Arnold (sadly the site broke the link, so I removed it): First, it is Maintenance Reduction 50 Percent, not Cost Reduction 50 Percent or Employee Reduction 50 Percent. “The goal … Continue reading →

Posted in Data, Deming, Lean thinking, Management, Management Articles, Process improvement, Toyota Production System (TPS) | Tagged Deming, Lean thinking, targets, Toyota | 4 Comments

Patent Review Innovation

Posted on August 16, 2006 by John Hunter

Michael Crichton wrote an essay critical of the current patent law: This Essay Breaks the Law. I believe the US is making significant mistakes in how we are proceeding with the patent system, see: The Patent System Needs to be … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Economics, Innovation, IT, Management, Process improvement | 2 Comments