Category Archives: Lean thinking

Visible Data

Posted on February 18, 2006 by John Hunter

Effective visual signals are important for effective management improvement: lean thinking emphasizes such ideas. Top 5 Rules of Effective Measurement Boards is an excellent post on how to make measurement effective. Take the time to find the important measures and then don’t keep data hidden in some drawer or computer file out of people’s view and therefore out of mind. Post the important data for everyone to see. Review the data as changes are made and see that the changes … Continue reading →

Posted in Data, Lean thinking, Management, Quality tools | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Lean Continuous Improvement

Posted on February 14, 2006 by John Hunter

Continuous Improvement — Taking A Big-Picture Approach To Lean [the broken link was removed] by Jonathan Katz, Industry Week: Northrop Grumman Newport News geared its lean value stream toward meeting customer commitments rather than strictly using it as a means to improve production. The company is constantly measuring its progress on customer contracts by using scorecards that help managers determine how close or how far they are to meeting customer agreements. Through this process, the company has saved on materials, … Continue reading →

Posted in Lean thinking, Management Articles

Army – Lean Six Sigma

Posted on February 13, 2006 by John Hunter

Army Adopting Lean Six Sigma [the broken link was removed] “We’ve already identified well over 20 processes that are Army-wide processes that we want to take on using Lean Six Sigma. . . We’re on the very beginning of making Lean Six Sigma, and the disciplined approach that comes with that, a major part of the way the Army does business,” said Maj. Gen. Ross Thompson III, Army G-8. The Army Materials Command has long practiced Quality Management methods. Red … Continue reading →

Posted in Lean thinking, Public Sector, Six sigma | Tagged ,

Lean Thinking in Scotland

Posted on February 12, 2006 by John Hunter

The man who would save Scottish industry [the broken link was removed] by Terry Murden Ross says: “Lean thinking can be applied to almost any process, but the key is the involvement of those who actually do the work. I passionately believe that companies, councils and the NHS can make major improvements across all their key measures once they learn how to involve their staff in the elimination of wasted time.” The article offers few details but is another example … Continue reading →

Posted in Lean thinking, Management Articles, Public Sector, UK | Tagged ,

Single Piece Flow

Posted on February 9, 2006 by John Hunter

Single Piece Flow [the broken link was removed] by Rich Weissman: The transition from batch and queue to lean manufacturing involves converting to single piece flow… In traditional manufacturing, specific operations were done in batches by departments that specialized in individual manufacturing tasks like machining, welding, assembly, and test. Through the integration of lean induced cellular manufacturing processes, cross-trained employees produce just the amount of completed products that are required by other internal operations or the end customer. By eliminating … Continue reading →

Posted in Lean thinking, Management Articles, Manufacturing, Quality tools | Tagged

Lean Accounting article from SME

Posted on February 8, 2006 by John Hunter

Keeping score with lean accounting cost management [the broken link was removed] by Jerry Solomon: We changed the format of our income statements. We made them simple. For each value stream, all of the payroll expense is in one bucket called processing costs. There is another bucket for all of our variable costs. We exclude elements outside the value stream, like property taxes or insurance. Now the income statements allow the folks to clearly see and understand what was spent … Continue reading →

Posted in Lean thinking, Management Articles | 1 Comment

ThedaCare: Lean Healthcare

Posted on January 30, 2006 by John Hunter

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 said. ThedaCare’s march toward lean began when Toussaint started looking for a way to improve quality and service while cutting costs. He found what he was looking for in an unlikely place – a factory that produces lawnmowers and snow … Continue reading →

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

TPS – Take 2

Posted on January 25, 2006 by John Hunter

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 the TPS tools of lean, agile, TQM, TPM, re-engineering, just-in-time, cellular/continuous workflow and so on — never seem to really pay off big [aside from Toyota]?” asks Michael Paris, president of Hinsdale, Ill.-based Paris:Consulting. His response: “Unless TPS is everywhere … Continue reading →

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

Management Excellence

Posted on January 23, 2006 by John Hunter

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 organizations do. There are at least two difficulties in identifying those organizations: 1) defining what set of criteria would indicate successful organizations 2) most often even companies that are doing many things well leave much to be desired (so picking … Continue reading →

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

Lean Consumption

Posted on January 12, 2006 by John Hunter

Lean Consumption [the broken link was removed] by James P. Womack and Daniel T. Jones, Harvard Business Review. An excellent article on the topic of their book: Lean Consumption. The Principles of Lean Consumption The concepts underlying lean consumption boil down to six simple principles that correspond closely with those of lean production. (For more on these principles, see our book Lean Thinking.) Solve the customer’s problem completely by insuring that all the goods and services work, and work together. … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Customer focus, Lean thinking, Management | Tagged

Lean at NUMMI

Posted on January 11, 2006 by John Hunter

Lean at NUMMI (site broke the link so I removed it) by Patrick Waurzyniak , Manufacturing Engineering. An article well worth reading. NUMMI’s production system is patterned closely after TPS, which is constantly changing and being updated, notes Gonzalez-Beltran. The pillars of TPS are the waste-reduction techniques of Just-in-Time production, bringing inventory to where it is needed and at the right time, and also jidoka, which provides machines and operators the ability to detect abnormal conditions and immediately stop work … Continue reading →

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

Leading Lean: Right Tool, Right Problem, Right Thinking

Posted on January 11, 2006 by John Hunter

Leading Lean: Right Tool, Right Problem, Right Thinking [the broken link was removed] One look at the kanban card in light of lean thinking helps those using it understand how and why it works, because they see it and understand it as a request, not a card. It is a method to connect a customer to a supplier. But most companies implementing kanban systems are not successful at getting the users to understand how and why the tool works. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Lean thinking, Quality tools | Tagged

Lean and Six Sigma in India BPO

Posted on January 7, 2006 by John Hunter

Via Panta Rei, Business Process Outsourcing, Meet Value Engineering [the broken link was removed], Measure for Measure [the broken link was removed] Dedicated Six Sigma, Lean and Reengineering teams continuously spot and improve processes for Genpact as well as its customers. Supported by 500-plus Six Sigma Black Belts and Master Black Belts, 150 Lean Coaches, these teams have implemented 400-plus breakthrough improvements, 3,000-plus Kaizen improvements that enhanced productivity by 6-8 per cent year-on-year. Genpact shares these benefits with customers,” says … Continue reading →

Posted in India, Lean thinking, Six sigma | Tagged ,

Lean Manufacturing in the Middle East

Posted on January 2, 2006 by John Hunter

Lean Manufacturing Interview of Mohammed Ajlouni, Managing Director of Jordan Specialized Vehicle: How should you work with your suppliers in a truly lean environment? In a truly lean environment, suppliers are partners. They will be expected to supply the required material, the right quality, the right quantity, at the right time, every time. To be able to do this, suppliers have to learn how to take the waste out of their processes. Indeed, many companies have to teach their suppliers … Continue reading →

Posted in Lean thinking, Management Articles, Manufacturing

Lean Retailing

Posted on December 28, 2005 by John Hunter

Lean Manufacturing Needs Lean Retailers [the broken link was removed] by Bill Waddell: Stuck in their outdated business model, with a simple minded economic model, they all scour the globe looking for a supplier they can wring a few cents out of on the purchase price, then send the product in staggering quantities through the most bloated and wasteful supply chains. … The hope for lean in retailing comes from the building products sector, where Home Depot and Lowes are … Continue reading →

Posted in Lean thinking, Management, Management Articles, quote

Rebirth of American Industry

Posted on December 21, 2005 by John Hunter

William Waddell excellent posts on the Evolving Excellence blog are always an interesting read. He, and Norman Bodek, have published a new book, Rebirth of American Industry. Read the full Excerpt from the book [the broken link was removed]. The Evolving Excellence blog also has a post: A New Must-Read Book – From Our Own Bill Waddell [the broken link was removed]. Norman Bodek has also written: Kaikaku, The Idea Generator: Quick and Easy Kaizen (with Bunji Tozawa) and The … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Lean thinking, Manufacturing | Tagged ,