Monthly Archives: January 2006

Deming Seminar and Conference

Audio CDs of the 2005 W. Edwards Deming Deming Institute Conference presentations ($100) [the broken link was removed]. I attended the conference and posted: “Mike Beck gave an excellent presentation at the Deming Institute conference about the United Technology Corporation … Continue reading

Posted in Deming | Tagged | 5 Comments

ThedaCare: Lean Healthcare

Area health systems put customer service first [the broken link was removed] by MaryBeth Matzek In 2005, ThedaCare was able to save $10 million thanks to its lean programs and officials hope to save another $12 million this year, Toussaint … Continue reading

Posted in Health care, Lean thinking, Management Articles | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Change is not Improvement

In response to: Why executives order reorgs [the broken link was removed] We trained hard… but it seemed that every time we were beginning to form up into teams we would be reorganized. I was to learn later in life … Continue reading

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TPS – Take 2

The cover story in latest issue of Industry Week focuses on what people have missed when applying ideas from the Toyota Production System. Learning From Toyota — Again [the broken link was removed] by John Teresko: “Why is it that … Continue reading

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China now the 5th Largest Economy

China’s Economy Grew 9.9% in 2005, Overtaking France [the broken link was removed] China’s economy grew 9.9 percent in 2005, overtaking France as the world’s fifth largest, powered by exports and investment in factories, roads and power plants. Gross domestic … Continue reading

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Management Excellence

My comments on, Take off the Blinders [the broken link was removed]: I think the question of what other companies have management practices worth studying is interesting. The answer could be very helpful as others could learn from what those … Continue reading

Posted in Data, Deming, Lean thinking, Management, quote | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Lean Software Development

Lean Software Development: A Field Guide [the broken link was removed] – the first 3 chapters of this new book are available online. Excellent, recommended for anyone interested in lean thinking ideas. Lean Software Development: An Agile Toolkit for Software … Continue reading

Posted in Management Articles | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Toyota’s Early History

via Got Boondogle: A book that I recently finished is “Quest for the Dawn” by Shoji Kimoto. “Quest for the Dawn” is a fascinating true story set from about 1930 to the mid 1950s of a bold business quest to … Continue reading

Posted in Books, Management, Toyota Production System (TPS) | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Zero Defects

Zero Defects by Norman Bodek: Do you believe it is possible to have Zero Defects? I am not talking about six sigma at all. I believe it is possible to have zero defects (in a sense). But I do not … Continue reading

Posted in Deming, Management, Quality tools, quote, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Great Charts

Karl Hartig displays some excellent charts that he created (for the Wall Street Journal) on his web site. The charts seem very similar to what would result from applying Edward Tufte’s ideas. Rarely do I see charts that do such … Continue reading

Posted in Data, Management | Tagged , , | 5 Comments