Monthly Archives: October 2005

Navy Six Sigma Results

Posted on October 4, 2005 by John Hunter

Feds Train to Achieve Six Sigma Results [the broken link was removed] by Sara Michael, Federal Computer Week: For Navsea, responsible for maintaining naval ships and weapons, the Six Sigma-inspired approach encourages managers to closely examine a business operation, such as contracting or information technology support, and look for ways to streamline procedures and deliver better service. Navsea has introduced Lean Six Sigma programs in 30 of its organizations. In the first year, Brice said, the program is producing tangible … Continue reading →

Posted in Management Articles

Lean Government

Posted on October 4, 2005 by John Hunter

Making Government Work [the broken link was removed] by Tom Vilsack via Panta Rei [the broken link was removed]: We redesigned the child welfare system to place greater focus on the complex and hard cases that people live out every day. We cut down paperwork so workers would have more time to spend helping children. That effort was part of our charter agency effort, which the Kennedy School at Harvard and the Ash Institute recently recognized as an Innovation of … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Lean thinking, Management, Public Sector | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

The Dramatic Spread of Lean Thinking

Posted on October 3, 2005 by John Hunter

Topic: Management Improvement and Economics The Dramatic Spread of Lean Thinking [the broken link was removed] by Jim Womack: Currently we are experiencing an explosion of interest in applying lean thinking to practically every process in every corner of the world. And it is causing all of us in the Lean Community to think about how we can best serve the needs we are hearing about. … I am delighted with the spread of lean thinking far beyond the factory … Continue reading →

Posted in Lean thinking, Management | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Solectron Drives Lean Six Sigma Manufacturing to its Suppliers

Posted on October 3, 2005 by John Hunter

Solectron Drives Lean Six Sigma Manufacturing to its Suppliers “Lean has fundamentally changed the manufacturing landscape, led by Toyota,” said Jim Womack. “The future of the EMS industry is found in Kaizen, and Solectron is leading the way. But to reap the full value and benefits of Lean, Kaizen must permeate up and down the supply chain — from OEMs to suppliers.”

Posted in Management

Statistical Techniques for Quality

Posted on October 2, 2005 by John Hunter

A new book, Quality Engineering Applications of Statistical Design, by T. N. Goh [the broken link was removed], was recently published by Wiley. Links to three previous articles by the author are provided below. Improving on the Six Sigma Paradigm [the broken link was removed] As six sigma has taken the business world by storm in the past 15 years, many organizations have focused on acquiring and implementing the DMAIC methodology with performance benchmarks defined by “sigma levels”. However, after … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Six sigma | Tagged ,

Air Products Strips Out Inefficiencies

Posted on October 2, 2005 by John Hunter

Air Products Strips Out Inefficiencies [the broken link was removed] by Rick Whiting, Information Week: Air Products standardized on continuous-improvement methodologies based on Six Sigma and lean manufacturing five years ago to boost its operating return on net assets, a metric to measure shareholder return on Air Products’ asset base. The IT operation began using about 40 continuous-improvement tools and practices 18 months ago, says Alan Jeffery, manager of continuous improvement for global IT. The methodologies are used for root-cause … Continue reading →

Posted in Management Articles

Supplier Partnering

Posted on October 2, 2005 by John Hunter

Supplier Partnering: It’s better, it’s longer and it’s not what you think [the broken link was removed], Rey Elbo (Philippines): This is to teach suppliers who could only continue supplying based on their long-term commitment and involvement to the implementation of basic 5S good housekeeping and process flow or layout. Under this type of partnering, the suppliers are constantly educated, monitored and measured by their clients a.k.a. big companies. If there is ever any confrontation between client and supplier in … Continue reading →

Posted in Management Articles | Tagged

Innovation and Creative Commons

Posted on October 2, 2005 by John Hunter

Creative Commons is a license that lets the creators of intellectual property clearly define how that property may be used by others. Partially this license is a reaction to the poor way copyright law is being viewed today (see links below). Partially it is tool that gives creators a way to provide for more interaction with their ideas. And this interaction is a great way to market, in the right circumstances. More managers should be thinking about how their organizations … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Economics, Innovation | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Ford and Managing the Supplier Relationship

Posted on October 1, 2005 by John Hunter

There have a been a number of articles (Ford to slash vendors of key parts [the broken link was removed] – Ford Rethinks Supply Strategy and posts (A “Kinder and Gentler” Lean Supply Base? – Ford Adopts Toyota-style Supplier Strategy [the broken link was removed]) about supplier management, many springing from Ford’s announcement [the broken link was removed]. My first thought on reading the stories about the press release was, didn’t Ford already say they were going to do this … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Management, Manufacturing, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Performance Without Appraisal

Posted on October 1, 2005 by John Hunter

In response to the Alternatives to Stack Ranking? post on the popular Mini-Microsoft blog. I’m also taking some time to contemplate on Deming’s points and assess how Microsoft is doing against them. … What I would deeply appreciate is real-world experience from people living with stack ranking alternatives. I strongly suggest chapter 9 (Performance Without Appraisal) of The Leader’s Handbooks, by Peter Scholtes. You mentioned Deming. When asked “If we eliminate performance appraisals, as you suggest, what do we do … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Management, Performance Appraisal, Psychology, Respect | Tagged , , , , , , | 7 Comments