Tag Archives: lean manufacturing

Lean Manufacturing and the Toyota Production System

In this post I explore my thoughts about what lean (lean manufacturing, lean thinking…) means. The way I think about it is that lean manufacturing sprung from Toyota. It seems to me the lean manufacturing name was meant to capture … Continue reading

Posted in Deming, Lean thinking, Management, Toyota Production System (TPS) | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Looking at Auto Manaufacturing in the USA

America’s Dirty War Against Manufacturing Bob Lutz, the former head of GM, says it was neither uncompetitive wages nor unions that drove the Big Three into decline. It was a management with its eye focused on the bottom line and … Continue reading

Posted in Deming, Economics, Manufacturing | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

2011 Management Blog Roundup: Gemba Panta Rei

For my contribution to the 4th annual management blog roundup I will take a look at 3 management blogs. In this post I look back at the year that was at the Gemba Panta Rei blog. We are lucky to … Continue reading

Posted in Carnival | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Manufacturing Skills Gap or Management Skills Gap?

I stumble across articles discussing the problem of manufacturers having difficulty finding workers with the skills they need (in the USA largely, but elsewhere too) somewhat regularly. While it is true that companies have this problem, I think looking at … Continue reading

Posted in Lean thinking, Management, Manufacturing, quote, Respect, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Practical Ways to Respect People

What matters is not your stated respect for people but your revealed respect for people. Here are some ideas that I collected on how to practice respect for people. Don’t waste people’s time: have meetings only when necessary and provide … Continue reading

Posted in Deming, Lean thinking, Management, Psychology, Respect, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Management Improvement Carnival #136

The Curious Cat Management blog carnival highlights recent management blog posts 3 times each month. The posts generally focus on the areas I have focused on in the Curious Cat Management Guide since 1996 (Deming, leadership, agile software development, lean … Continue reading

Posted in Carnival, Management | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Engage in Improving the Management System

To actually improve management you need to engage in continual improvement of your management systems. This requires doing the hard work of challenging complacency. The job of those improving the practice of management is not to make everyone happy and … Continue reading

Posted in Deming, Lean thinking, Management, Psychology, quote, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Respect for People Doesn’t Mean Avoiding Any Hint of Criticism

As I said in a post a few years ago on respect for people and Taiichi Ohno‘s sometimes very aggressive style: The difference between respect and disrespect is not avoiding avoiding criticism. In fact often if you respect someone you … Continue reading

Posted in Deming, Lean thinking, Management, Popular, Psychology, quote, Respect, Toyota Production System (TPS) | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Annual Management Blog Review: Software, Manufacturing and Leadership

In my contribution to the 3rd annual management blog roundup I will take a look at 3 blogs: Dennis Stevens, How to implement “Lean Thinking” in a Business and the Three Star Leadership Blog. This year 14 management bloggers contributed … Continue reading

Posted in Carnival, Lean thinking, Management, Quality tools, Software Development, Toyota Production System (TPS) | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

3rd Annual Management Blog Review Part 1

This year the management blog review has 14 management bloggers taking a look at close to 50 management blogs. Here are links to the blog roundups published so far: Jamie Flinchbaugh started things off with posts on: Curious Cat Management … Continue reading

Posted in Carnival, Management | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments