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Author Archives: John Hunter
30 Year Fixed Rate Mortgage Rates
Fairly frequently I am asked, by friends, for investing advice. One topic I am asked about frequently is mortgages (locking in rates, etc.). Often they are concerned about what a Federal Reserve decision to raise or lower rates will effect the 30 year fixed mortgage rate. Essentially the decision by the Fed won’t have any predictable impact (this is not the complete truth but close enough for the question being asked – this article has more, though it still just … Continue reading
Education Improvement
Pattillo Tutors Granville School on Teaching Method [unfortunately the newspaper broke the link so I removed it] by Natalie Jordan, Rocky Mount Telegram (North Carolina, USA): The model uses a PDSA – plan, do, study and act – component. “Plan” clarifies the purpose; “do” is when an action plan is made and done; “study” involves analyzing results; and “act” is to make improvements. Through core values and strategic categories, the model is improving the way teachers teach and students learn, … Continue reading
Posted in Education, Management
Tagged Education
Management Improvement in Healthcare
Thinking out-of-the-box Helps Alexandra Hospital Reduce Patient Waiting Time, Singapore News, via Panta Rei. Another example of lean principles being used by government: When looking for solutions to cut patients’ waiting time, Alexandra Hospital took an out-of-the-box approach and looked at a factory’s production line. More specifically, the Toyota production line. … While a team of 12 staff used to screen 22 patients per hour, the same team can now screen 70 patients per hour – a 400-per-cent increase in … Continue reading
Posted in Health care, Lean thinking, Management
Tagged Health care, Lean thinking, Public Sector, Singapore
3 Comments
Measuring and Managing Performance in Organizations
Forward [the broken link was removed] (by Tom DeMarco and Timothy Lister) to Measuring and Managing Performance in Organizations: measurement is almost always part of an effort to achieve some goal. You can’t always measure all aspects of progress against the goal, so you settle for some surrogate parameter, one that seems to represent the goal closely and is simple enough to measure. So, for example, if the goal is long-term profitability, you may seek to achieve that goal by … Continue reading
Posted in Data, Management
Tagged Data, evidence based management, management, organization as a system
2 Comments
More Lean Government
Lean thinking ideas are about eliminating waste. Some who believe the government should just be smaller, talk about a lean government, but that is not the same thing as a government that applies the concepts of lean thinking. Toyota is very lean and very large. Most business apply lean concepts with the goal of growing the size of their organization as they are better able to serve customers and compete in the marketplace. The first Public Sector Shingo Prizes [the … Continue reading
Peter F. Drucker on a Functioning Society
Peter F. Drucker on a Functioning Society by Joseph A. Maciariello: Drucker’s concern that the institutions of society function for the common good has led him to be critical of business practice from time to time and to take on the preaching role of a prophet. For example, some of the ratios between the compensation of top executives and those of the frontline worker are well above 500 to 1… To Drucker this is shameful and sends the wrong message … Continue reading
Posted in Management Articles
The Toyota Way Fieldbook
Topic: Management Improvement The Toyota Way Fieldbook – a Practical Guide to implementing Toyota’s 4Ps by Jeffrey Liker has just been released. For this book he is joined by David Meier, and they delve into applying the concepts from his excellent book: The Toyota Way. Toyota’s 4Ps: Philosophy, Processes, People, and Partners. “The Toyota Way Fieldbook details the language, concepts, and tools that managers need to use Toyota’s success-proven practices in any organization. Readers are given valuable insights into the … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Lean thinking, Management, Toyota Production System (TPS)
Toyota and the Art of Continuous Improvement
Oh, What A Company! [the broken link was removed] by by Gary S. Vasilash TPS is not for those who are looking for the fast solution. While implementing any single element of TPS will undoubtedly bring some rather startling results in comparatively short order, it is only through the continuous, persistent application of the principles that fundamental change is realized. Very true.
Deming Institute Conference
Topic: Management Improvement For those who might be interested in meeting in person, I will be in Indiana for the Deming Institute Conference [the broken link was removed] and the seminar, How to Create Unethical, Ineffective Organizations That Go Out of Business [the broken link was removed], this month. Feel free to drop me a note if you want to try and meet. I look forward to seeing some of you.
Posted in Management
Innovation in Software Development Process
Innovation in MSF v4.0 [the broken link was removed] The Work Remaining report uses a cumulative flow chart developed for Lean Manufacturing. Work-in-progress and queuing can be monitored with this report in order to identify bottlenecks and address issues which are affecting throughput and reducing capacity. … MSF takes advantage of trustworthy transparency by focusing on the use of reports to drive objective, rational management decisions and interventions. MSF metrics have been selected to be simple, self-generating, relevant and leading … Continue reading
Posted in Deming, IT, Software Development
Tagged Software Development
Navy Six Sigma Results
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
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 government, lean management, management, Public Sector
2 Comments
The Dramatic Spread of Lean Thinking
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
Solectron Drives Lean Six Sigma Manufacturing to its Suppliers
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
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 Six sigma, Statistics
Air Products Strips Out Inefficiencies
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