Category Archives: Lean thinking

Lean Education Academic Network Spring Meeting

Posted on April 12, 2006 by John Hunter

The Lean Education Academic Network (LEAN) is having their Spring meeting [the broken link was removed] at the University of Kentucky in Lexington May 10th – May 12th. This is targeted at educators and students (a fairly small slice of our audience): still it looks interesting so here are some details. The agenda [the broken link was removed] includes: Tour Summit Polymer, considered by the Toyota Supplier Support Center to be the leanest manufacturing facility in the US. And a … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Lean thinking, Management | 1 Comment

Lean Material Handling

Posted on April 11, 2006 by John Hunter

Don’t Ignore your Water Spider a great post by Mike Wroblewski: The second night was little better and I quickly evaluated the improvements from the night before. Later that second night, I made more improvements. Each day, I continued the cycle of experimenting with the improvements and making adjustments to see what worked best. By the end of the week, my pedometer reading hit only 10,000 steps or five miles and not one line operator had to get their own … Continue reading →

Posted in Lean thinking, Management, Management Articles, Manufacturing

Leading Lean: Missed Opportunity

Posted on April 10, 2006 by John Hunter

Leading Lean: Missed Opportunity [the broken link was removed] by Jamie Flinchbaugh: Three elements are needed to gain the benefits from using pull production to drive problems out into the open. First, you need strong problem-solving skills. Bringing a problem to the surface is only half of the battle-you still have to correct the problem. Second, you need an infrastructure capable of solving problems. This means persuading employees at all levels to respond to problems in real time. This does … Continue reading →

Posted in Lean thinking, Management, Psychology, Systems thinking | Tagged , ,

PBS Documentary: Improving Hospitals

Posted on April 9, 2006 by John Hunter

Clare Crawford-Mason and Llyod Dobyns have teamed up on a new documentary. Previously they created If Japan Can-Why Can’t We? and the Deming Library Tapes. Good News – How Hospitals Heal Themselves (broken link was removed) A One-Hour Documentary Airing on Public Television Spring/Summer 2006 Reported by Former NBC Anchor Lloyd Dobyns This rare good news documentary reports on a surprising solution to escalating costs, unnecessary deaths and waste in America’s hospitals. Doctors and nurses tell how they did their … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Health care, Lean thinking, Management, Systems thinking | Tagged , | 9 Comments

Toyota Again Get Positive Press

Posted on April 7, 2006 by John Hunter

Toyota Eyes Chance to Pass by Anthony Faiola, Washington Post: The mainstream press continues to note the success of Toyota. Toyota has been toying with hybrid engines for the past 20 years. But the company began to seriously pursue a mass-producible hybrid in 1993. Ogiso, 45 years old and now the chief engineer on the third-generation Prius still under development, said the edict came from Eiji Toyoda, the patriarch of the Toyota family who headed the company until 1994. Ogiso … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Lean thinking, Management, Toyota Production System (TPS) | Tagged

Lean Thinking Needed

Posted on April 6, 2006 by John Hunter

Bank Wire Transfers vs. FedEx Delivery My goal was to give them all the paperwork, ensure I had sufficient funds, and schedule the transfer such that the money arrives in the sellers’ account on a particular date next week. But they can’t do that. They cannot hold the paperwork for any amount of time. They’ll process it the same day I turn it in. I guess I can understand that. They’re a bank, not a scheduling service. However, they can’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Lean thinking, Management, Management Articles

Lean Enterprise Institute Expands

Posted on April 5, 2006 by John Hunter

Lean Enterprise Institute Expands Services to Growing Lean Community [the broken link was removed] “LEI is introducing new programs, led by new people, at a new location to improve the practice of lean, the search for lean knowledge, and how we share the knowledge across the world,” said James P. Womack, LEI founder and chairman. Based on customer research, LEI has formed into four units — Lean Learning Materials, Lean Education, Lean Enterprise Partners, and Lean Events — to align … Continue reading →

Posted in Lean thinking, Management

Lean Manufacturing Success

Posted on April 4, 2006 by John Hunter

Oshkosh Truck Driven to Succeed [the broken link was removed] by Arlen Boardman: Wuest said this reduced the order-to-delivery time from 12 to 16 weeks to seven days. It made better use of manufacturing space and reduced inventory-holding costs. He said it does many more things, like create an orderly work area, so tools are where they’re supposed to be, and parts are made when needed, one at a time. “The goal is to turn an order into cash as … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Lean thinking, Management, Management Articles, Manufacturing | Tagged

A Company’s Purpose is to be Useful to Society

Posted on April 2, 2006 by John Hunter

Toyota powers to the front [the broken link was removed] (Toyota President, Katsuaki Watanabe) eschews the normal management mantra of shareholder value above all. A company’s purpose, Watanabe insists, is to be useful to society. W. Edwards Deming described the purpose of an organization in New Economics, on page 51, as: The aim proposed here for any organization is for everybody to gain – stockholders, employees, suppliers, customers, community, the environment – over the long term. More from our previous … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Lean thinking, Management, Toyota Production System (TPS) | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Lean Aerospace Initiative

Posted on March 31, 2006 by John Hunter

The Lean Aerospace Initiative [the broken link was removed] at MIT has a large number of reports, case studies and articles available online. The Initiative was formally launched as the Lean Aircraft Initiative in 1993 when leaders from the U.S. Air Force, MIT, labor unions, and defense aerospace businesses forged a trail-blazing partnership to transform the industry, reinvigorate the workplace, and reinvest in America using a philosophy called “lean.” The Initiative’s stated mission is to research, develop, and promulgate practices, … Continue reading →

Posted in Lean thinking

Lean, Mean Business Machine

Posted on March 29, 2006 by John Hunter

Lean, mean business machine [the broken link was removed], from New Zealand: But it is wasted effort that is the main focus, Mr Shook says. The lean philosophy is about first making waste visible, then acting on every level in a company, from large to small, to eliminate it. This point is often overlooked – making waste visible is critical.

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What Innovation Means to Tesco

Posted on March 29, 2006 by John Hunter

What innovation means to Tesco [the broken link was removed] by Sir Terry Leahy (Chief Executive of Tesco): Innovators are all around us; innovation is after all just another word for an idea and we can all have those. Businesses must learn to harness the creativity of their workforce and encourage staff to come forward with ideas. It’s not always easy as some good ideas will fail but companies have to be comfortable with that if they are to avoid … Continue reading →

Posted in Lean thinking, Respect, Systems thinking, UK | Tagged | 1 Comment

What makes Toyota tick?

Posted on March 27, 2006 by John Hunter

Advanced Manufacturing magazine continues the focus on Toyota with a cover article, What Makes Toyota Tick? [the broken link was removed] by Vanessa Chris “Toyota has been coined ‘the most feared automaker in the industry.’” Just a few days ago I posted on: Fear Remains a Toyota Motivator. No matter what Toyota continues to be the focus of attention. Every aspect of the assembly process flows flawlessly into the next – making the plant’s 157 processes seem like one. Parts … Continue reading →

Posted in Lean thinking, Management, Manufacturing, Toyota Production System (TPS) | Tagged

Good Customer Service Example

Posted on March 26, 2006 by John Hunter

No More Lean Excuses [the broken link was removed] by Dan Jones I have recently been getting a striking reaction from many senior management audiences. They all agree that products have got vastly better over recent years, but they equally agree that the process of ordering and buying them and getting them serviced has got worse! This is a theme in Jones and Womack’s recent book: Lean Solutions. Recently I bought a new digital camera, Canon A700. Part of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Customer focus, Lean thinking, Management | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Fear Remains a Toyota Motivator

Posted on March 23, 2006 by John Hunter

First, don’t let the title fool you, this is not an indication Toyota is going against Deming’s obligation of management to “Drive out fear and build trust so that everyone can work effectively”. Deming was talking about driving out the fear management creates for employees intentionally (forced ranking…) and un-intentionally (creating a climate where people are more fearful of pointing out problems than just ignoring them…). See: Deming and Toyota. This article is talking about Toyota’s never ending quest to … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Lean thinking, Management, Management Articles, Psychology, Toyota Production System (TPS) | Tagged , ,

Lean and Theory of Constraints

Posted on March 22, 2006 by John Hunter

David Anderson’s post, Lean vs. TOC – No Conflict [the broken link was removed], is an excellent addition to the previous post here: Lean Thinking and Management. I demonstrated these ideas recently by taking an updated version of my XIT Sustained Engineering paper from the TOCICO in Barcelona [the broken link was removed] to the Lean Design and Development conference and recasting all the exploitation and subordination steps as waste reduction instead. David refers to a post, looking for a … Continue reading →

Posted in Lean thinking, Management, Software Development, Theory of Constraints | Tagged , | 1 Comment