Category Archives: Lean thinking

Lean Manufacturing and the Toyota Production System

Posted on May 3, 2012 by John Hunter

In this post I explore my thoughts about what lean (lean manufacturing, lean thinking…) means. The way I think about it is that lean manufacturing sprung from Toyota. It seems to me the lean manufacturing name was meant to capture … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Lean thinking, Management, Toyota Production System (TPS) | Tagged commentary, curiouscat, Deming, lean management, lean manufacturing, Toyota, Toyota Production System (TPS) | 6 Comments

Webcast on Lean Startups by Eric Ries

Posted on April 23, 2012 by John Hunter

[broken embedded webcast link removed] Webcast with Eric Ries at PARC, author of Lean Startups, July 2011. Related: Why Lean is Different – An Introduction to Deming’s Management Ideas by Peter Scholtes (webcast) – Dr. Russell Ackoff Webcast on Systems … Continue reading →

Posted in Lean thinking | Tagged entrepreneur, Lean thinking, management webcast | Comments Off

Management Improvement Blog Carnival #160

Posted on March 11, 2012 by John Hunter

The Curious Cat Management blog carnival highlights recent management blog posts 3 times each month. The posts generally focus on the areas I have focused on in the Curious Cat Management Guide since 1996 (Deming, innovation, lean manufacturing, customer focus, … Continue reading →

Posted in Carnival, Lean thinking | Tagged Lean thinking, management, Software Development | Comments Off

Why Use Lean if So Many Fail To Do So Effectively

Posted on February 15, 2012 by John Hunter

If less than 1% of companies are successful with Lean, why are we doing it? Lots of us are not. I would say the efforts I see “fail” are because they don’t do it. They have something they call TQM, … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Lean thinking, Management, Process improvement, Six sigma, Systems thinking | Tagged commentary, curiouscat, Deming, John Hunter, lean management, lean six sigma, management, Quality tools, Six sigma | 11 Comments

Management Improvement Blog Carnival #150

Posted on December 1, 2011 by John Hunter

Mark Graban is hosting Management Improvement Blog Carnival #150 on the Lean Blog, highlights include: Watching Waste in the ER! – As part of his relatively new blog, Anthony Scott (Frontline Lean) writes about his experiences with waste in an … Continue reading →

Posted in Carnival, Lean thinking, Management | Tagged Health care, Lean thinking, management | Comments Off

Manufacturing Skills Gap or Management Skills Gap?

Posted on November 7, 2011 by John Hunter

I stumble across articles discussing the problem of manufacturers having difficulty finding workers with the skills they need (in the USA largely, but elsewhere too) somewhat regularly. While it is true that companies have this problem, I think looking at … Continue reading →

Posted in Lean thinking, Management, Manufacturing, quote, Respect, Systems thinking | Tagged Career, Deming, hiring, jobs, lean manufacturing, long term thinking, management, managing people, Manufacturing, problem solving, quote, respect for people, Systems thinking, workplace improvement | 3 Comments

Practical Ways to Respect People

Posted on November 3, 2011 by John Hunter

What matters is not your stated respect for people but your revealed respect for people. Here are some ideas that I collected on how to practice respect for people. Don’t waste people’s time: have meetings only when necessary and provide … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Lean thinking, Management, Psychology, Respect, Systems thinking | Tagged coaching, curiouscat, Deming, John Hunter, lean manufacturing, long term thinking, management, managers, managing people, Psychology, respect for people | 12 Comments

When Companies Can Treat You Like an ATM, Many Will Do So

Posted on August 29, 2011 by John Hunter

The End of Refrigeration One small custom chip, some relays, a transformer, a couple of heat sinks, and a bunch of passive parts. Maybe a build cost of $20-30 or so? But GE’s price to me was $250, plus $150 … Continue reading →

Posted in Customer focus, Deming, Investing, Lean thinking, Management, Process improvement, Systems thinking | Tagged Customer focus, customer service, Deming, Investing, Lean thinking, Systems thinking | 1 Comment

Touring Factories on Vacation When I Was Young

Posted on July 13, 2011 by John Hunter

Growing up, occasionally, a family vacation would include a factory tour related to my Dad’s work. He was providing some management or engineering consulting and took the opportunity to check in on progress and visit the gemba. Here is a … Continue reading →

Posted in Lean thinking, Manufacturing | Tagged Bill Hunter, gemba, John Hunter, Manufacturing, visual management | 2 Comments

Management Improvement Carnival #132

Posted on June 1, 2011 by John Hunter

The Curious Cat Management blog carnival highlights recent management blog posts 3 times each month. The posts generally focus on the areas I have focused on in the Curious Cat Management Guide since 1996 (Deming, agile software development, systems thinking, … Continue reading →

Posted in Carnival, Lean thinking, Management | Tagged Lean thinking, management, respect for people | 1 Comment