Category Archives: Lean thinking

How to Avoid Kaizen

Posted on June 13, 2007 by John Hunter

‘Disillusioned’ surgeon quits UK: In the theatre anaesthetists at the James Paget Hospital prepared the next patient while he was operating on another. He said: “I found I was wasting time between operations so I came up with this solution. … Continue reading →

Posted in Health care, Lean thinking, Management | Comments Off

Lean Progress at Label Printing Companies

Posted on June 6, 2007 by John Hunter

Continuous Improvement [the broken link was removed], an article from the Label and Narrow Web trade magazine (“for the narrow web segment of converting and printing”), is an article with some nice anecdotes of successfully applying lean thinking. “The dollar … Continue reading →

Posted in Lean thinking, Management, Management Articles, Quality tools | Tagged lean manufacturing, Lean thinking, Quality tools | Comments Off

Bad Management Results in Layoffs

Posted on June 3, 2007 by John Hunter

In response to Is Laying People off Really Anti-Lean? [the broken link was removed]: Let’s say you, a Lean enthusiast, are named CEO of a mid sized manufacturing company. Let’s also assume your market has turned down and the constraint … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Lean thinking, Management, Popular, quote, Respect, Toyota Production System (TPS) | Tagged bad management, layoffs, management, respect for people | 18 Comments

Reduce Computer Waste

Posted on May 24, 2007 by John Hunter

High-efficiency power supplies for home computers and servers [the broken link was removed] (pdf) by Urs Hoelzle and Bill Weihl – Google: Most likely, the computer you’re using wastes 30-40% of the electrical power it consumes because it is using … Continue reading →

Posted in Google, Innovation, IT, Lean thinking | Tagged green, waste | 6 Comments

Kaizen

Posted on May 21, 2007 by John Hunter

Great post – Do Kaizen Like Toyota [the broken link was removed]: Standardize how you solve problems… This is where following a standardized approach to problem solving based on the scientific method can help keep your kaizen efforts on track. … Continue reading →

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Find Good Management Improvement Jobs

Posted on May 3, 2007 by John Hunter

Peter Abilla (shmula blog) is hiring a Manager for Process Improvement [the broken link was removed] to work with him at eBay. It is a great opportunity, in my opinion. Here are some highlights of what he is looking for: … Continue reading →

Posted in IT, Lean thinking, Process improvement, Six sigma | Tagged jobs | Comments Off

Toyota, Lean, Consultants…

Posted on May 3, 2007 by John Hunter

Toyota’s success pleases proponents of ‘lean’ The publicity about Toyota becoming No. 1 will create another burst of energy to lean, even though a survey by management consulting firm Bain shows that just 19% of companies that have tried it … Continue reading →

Posted in Lean thinking, Management, Six sigma, Toyota Production System (TPS) | Comments Off

Standardized Work Instructions

Posted on April 29, 2007 by John Hunter

Standardized work instructions are in important part of Deming and lean manufacturing management systems. Processes need to be standardized and continually improved (kaizen). Without a documented standard process variation normally increases over time as processes drift away from the desired … Continue reading →

Posted in Lean thinking, Management, Process improvement, Quality tools | Tagged lean manufacturing, Quality tools | 2 Comments

Womack: Toyota Now and the Risks They Face

Posted on April 27, 2007 by John Hunter

Why Toyota Won and How Toyota Can Lose by James Womack Toyota’s great risk, the way it can lose, is that its new managers and the managers in its new suppliers will revert to the old, mass-production mentality of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Lean thinking, Management, Toyota Production System (TPS) | 2 Comments

Learning Lean: A Survey of Industry Lean Needs

Posted on April 18, 2007 by John Hunter

A draft version of Learning Lean: A Survey of Industry Lean Needs [the broken link was removed] by Gene Fliedner and Kieran Mathieson is now available. This voice of the customer report is product of some of those involved in … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Lean thinking, Management, Quality tools | Tagged Education, Lean thinking | Comments Off