Author Archives: John Hunter

Lexus: Long Term Thinking

Posted on September 13, 2006 by John Hunter

Lexus: A Retrospective [the broken link was removed] All this involved creating not only the best car ever but also something new, a psychological experience rooted in reality. Toyota wanted to create for the buyers of this new car the best overall ownership experience ever. To establish that ultimate experience, Toyota decided to sell Lexus in a completely separate setting from its main line of vehicles. Lexus was to have its own state-of-the-art dealerships and top-notch dealers who were committed … Continue reading →

Posted in Toyota Production System (TPS) | Tagged

Two more Lean Blog Podcasts

Posted on September 12, 2006 by John Hunter

More excellent management podcasts from the Lean Blog: Part 2 of 2 with Dr. Liker, Lean Healthcare and Jamie Flinchbaugh on Muda. As Jamie explains the reason for talking about the seven wastes (muda) is the value added to waste elimination that the distinction provides (by helping people see the issues more clearly). The reason for learning about lean more thoroughly is to more effectively improve. Related: articles by Jamie Flinchbaugh – management blog posts on podcasts – Toyota Targets … Continue reading →

Posted in Lean thinking, Management, webcast

Going Lean Brings Long-term Payoffs

Posted on September 10, 2006 by John Hunter

Going lean brings long-term payoffs [the broken link was removed] by John Torinus: The growing number of Wisconsin manufacturers, and the few service companies, taking the lean journey are learning that it is not a sprint. … The immediate paybacks come in the form of saved space, less distance traveled, fewer handoffs, faster throughput, lower inventories and man-hours saved. I would state the authors next point differently. The early successes provide resources to invest in making large more fundamental changes … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Lean thinking, Management, Management Articles, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

New Lean Blog: Lean Insider

Posted on September 7, 2006 by John Hunter

A new lean blog, from Productivity Press, starts off with: The Low Rates of Lean Implementation [the broken link was removed]: In presenting the results during a recent Industry Week Webinar, Jane Biddle, VP of Global Manufacturing Research at Aberdeen also set forth a familiar list of characteristics of the best in class: Mastered the basic tenants of lean, dedicated to continuous improvement, top management is committed and embracing a ‘culture of lean.’ So what else is new? We’ve heard … Continue reading →

Posted in Lean thinking, Management

Thoughts on Hospital Management by Deming

Posted on September 6, 2006 by John Hunter

The latest newsletter from the W. Edwards Deming Institute [new link since the old link was broken] includes the photo of Dr. Deming from 1951 and: Some notes on management in a hospital by W. Edwards Deming, Ph.D.: Fifteen hours elapse between dinner and breakfast. I was hungry in the middle of the night, first night. Fortunately had candy bars on hand. I have learned how to acquire and store up food like a squirrel if I get hungry during … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Health care, Management | Tagged , , ,

Toyota IT Overview

Posted on September 5, 2006 by John Hunter

What’s Driving Toyota? by Mel Duvall is an interesting, long article discussing Toyota overall and focusing on Toyota’s Information Technology systems. Technology does not drive business processes at Toyota. The Toyota Production System does. However, technology plays a critical role by supporting, enabling and bringing to life on a mass scale the processes derived by adhering to TPS. “What strikes me about Toyota is, if you were to ask them if they have a technology strategy, they would probably say … Continue reading →

Posted in IT, Management, Popular, quote, Toyota Production System (TPS) | 9 Comments

Housing and the Economy

Posted on September 4, 2006 by John Hunter

Chart of home values from 1890 through 2006 (the chart is a misleading because it crops the lower end at 60 (not 0). The values go from 60-200 (it is an index showing the cost of the standard house in thousands of 2006 $s. House prices have ranged from $66,000-200,000 for the standard house from 1890 to 2006, and never above $130,000 until 2001. Larger view of the graph (via the New York Times) and the data set from Robert … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Investing | 2 Comments

Quality Technology and Innovation

Posted on September 2, 2006 by John Hunter

The Future of Quality Technology: From a Manufacturing to a Knowledge Economy and From Defects to Innovations [sadly the link to ASQ fails, sigh, http://www.asqstatdiv.org/documents/newsletters/Winter06StatDiv.pdf] by Soren Bisgaard: we need to be good at both breakthrough and incremental innovation. Not either/or, but both! And this is where the quality profession comes in. Much of what quality technology is applied to can broadly be characterized as incremental innovation. This article does a good job of explaining why “quality/lean…” should not be … Continue reading →

Posted in Innovation, Management, Manufacturing, Statistics | 2 Comments

More Lean Manufacturing Podcasts

Posted on September 2, 2006 by John Hunter

Another resource is providing worthwhile lean manufacturing podcasts. The first of an eight video podcast series by Gary Conner [the broken link was removed] is available now. He is author of Lean Manufacturing for the Small Shop (Shingo Prize – winner [the broken link was removed]) is a good introduction to lean manufacturing ideas. Related: blog posts on management improvement webcasts – Google Videocasts on Customer Focus – Lean Podcast: Bodek – Lean Blog: Liker Gary Conner also wrote Six … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Lean thinking, Management Articles, webcast | Tagged

Permanent Innovation

Posted on August 31, 2006 by John Hunter

Langdon Morris has written a new book: Permanent Innovation [the broken link was removed]. There is a blog [the broken link was removed] and web site too. The book builds upon his article, Business Model Warfare: Furthermore, the core of the innovation value proposition need not be built around a technology per se. In the examples cited above – Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Nike, Visa, Dell, Fedex, Home Depot, Southwest Airlines, and Ford (in the early days) – proprietary technologies play … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Innovation, Systems thinking

Complicating Simplicity

Posted on August 31, 2006 by John Hunter

Complicating simplicity: Gah! Trying to read about the “Simplicity: The Art of Complexity” (er, what?) conference. But the description at the conference site is the exact opposite of simple, clear writing: An investigation of the essence of simplicity must necessarily get involved with the psychology of human-machine interaction. Why do we display such a strong proclivity to regarding technology as an externally imposed authority, to condemning or venerating it?…If we merely equate simplicity with simplification and reduction, simply let the … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Management, quote, Software Development | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Graban Interviews Liker

Posted on August 31, 2006 by John Hunter

Another excellent podcast from the Lean Blog: Dr. Jeffrey Liker. Dr. Liker discusses the subtleties of doing actually doing lean versus talking about doing lean. Dr. Liker has authored: The Toyota Way, The Toyota Way Fieldbook and The Toyota Product Development System: Integrating People, Process And Technology. His consulting firm is: Optiprise. True lean management is not instant pudding. The more knowledgeable people are about lean practices the less they focus on quick fixes and the more they talk about … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Deming, Lean thinking, Management, Toyota Production System (TPS), webcast

Toyota Targets 50% Reduction in Maintenance Waste

Posted on August 30, 2006 by John Hunter

Inside the Toyota Maintenance Reduction 50 Percent by Paul V. Arnold (sadly the site broke the link, so I removed it): First, it is Maintenance Reduction 50 Percent, not Cost Reduction 50 Percent or Employee Reduction 50 Percent. “The goal is to reduce maintenance activities and the maintenance that you perform on a machine by 50 percent. That goal covers every machine and every activity,” says TMMK facilities control manager David Absher. This is not about arbitrarily chopping budgets or … Continue reading →

Posted in Data, Deming, Lean thinking, Management, Management Articles, Process improvement, Toyota Production System (TPS) | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Senge and Deming

Posted on August 29, 2006 by John Hunter

Jeff Sutherland quoting Dr. Deming‘s response to Peter Senge request for a comment on his book, The Fifth Discipline: “Our prevailing system of management has destroyed our people. People are born with intrinsic motivation, self-respect, dignity, curiosity to learn, joy in learning. The forces of destruction begin with toddlers—a prize for the best halloween costume, grades in school, gold stars—and on up through the university. On the job, people, teams, and divisions are ranked, rewarded for the top, punished for … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Management, Psychology, Respect, Systems thinking | Tagged , , ,

Lean Leaders

Posted on August 28, 2006 by John Hunter

Lean leaders [the broken link was removed] by April Terreri: Tim Corcoran, vice president of ZF Sales & Services, NA, LLC, that re-manufactures automotive transmissions and steering systems in Vernon Hills, IL. “We had a number of false starts by implementing tools like kaizen, value stream mapping and the 5Ss,” he admits. “We found it’s really about the thinking and how we approach work.” Once he and his first-line managers participated in a lean workshop at Lean Learning Center, everything … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Lean thinking, Management, Management Articles, Psychology, Quality tools | Tagged , , ,

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 open to change. Get everyone – shop floor to board room – involved. The company’s output has nearly tripled in six years with a work force that has remained steady at about 1,000. Productivity is up, on average, about 17% … Continue reading →

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