Category Archives: Public Sector

Baldrige in Education

Posted on January 6, 2007 by John Hunter

Superintendent’s method used by Boeing, Motorola [the broken link was removed] by Helen Gao The three M’s – managing for innovation, management by fact and market focus – are unfamiliar phrases to most people in the educational establishment. But don’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Management, Public Sector | Tagged

Customer Un-focus

Posted on December 28, 2006 by John Hunter

Counties caught in conundrum: getting Amish to take food stamps [the broken link was removed] by John Horton Accepting public assistance is verboten within the Amish culture. It simply is not done. But Taylor is under orders to at least … Continue reading →

Posted in Customer focus, Data, Management, Public Sector | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Wisconsin Manufacturing

Posted on August 27, 2006 by John Hunter

Editorial: A way forward for state companies [the broken link was removed], Milwaukee Journal Sentinel The idea of lean manufacturing is pretty close to a religion at Ariens these days. The tenets: Be quick on the draw. Improve continuously. Be … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Lean thinking, Management, Public Sector | Tagged , | 6 Comments

VA Medical Care

Posted on July 23, 2006 by John Hunter

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 →

Posted in Health care, Management, Public Sector | Tagged ,

Army Lean Six Sigma

Posted on July 21, 2006 by John Hunter

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 →

Posted in Lean thinking, Management Articles, Public Sector, Six sigma | Tagged , , ,

Another Article on Lean UK Hospitals

Posted on July 3, 2006 by John Hunter

Country to follow the hospital’s ‘lean’ lead by Jane Lavender: Since the introduction of lean thinking, the length of time it takes a patient to get from the accident and emergency to the operating theatre has been reduced by 38 … Continue reading →

Posted in Health care, Lean thinking, Management, Public Sector, UK

Health Care Crisis

Posted on June 16, 2006 by John Hunter

Probe finds nation’s emergency care system at ‘breaking point’ (the San Jose Mercury News broke the link so I removed it – poor usabilty on their part) by Lauran Neegaard: It’s a sobering symptom of how the nation’s emergency-care system … Continue reading →

Posted in Health care, Lean thinking, Management, Public Sector, Systems thinking | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Lean Library

Posted on June 12, 2006 by John Hunter

Library becomes a lean machine [the broken link was removed] by Morgan Jarema: “I spent parts of three days looking for that book,” Hoyles recalled. “On the fourth day, I found it. I called the patron and he told me … Continue reading →

Posted in Lean thinking, Management Articles, Public Sector, Quality tools | Tagged ,

Kaizen Event Research Project

Posted on June 5, 2006 by John Hunter

NSF Funded Kaizen Event Research Project [the broken link was removed] First, this research seeks to identify the most important factors influencing successful outcomes (both technical and social)…The second objective investigates the sustainability of Kaizen events over time. The research … Continue reading →

Posted in Lean thinking, Management, Manufacturing, Public Sector, Quality tools | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Army – Lean Six Sigma

Posted on February 13, 2006 by John Hunter

Army Adopting Lean Six Sigma [the broken link was removed] “We’ve already identified well over 20 processes that are Army-wide processes that we want to take on using Lean Six Sigma. . . We’re on the very beginning of making … Continue reading →

Posted in Lean thinking, Public Sector, Six sigma | Tagged ,