Category Archives: Management

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

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 Creativity, design, simplicity, Systems thinking, usability | 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 Deming, Lean thinking, targets, Toyota | 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 Deming, Psychology, respect for people, Systems thinking

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 continual improvement, fear, Lean thinking, Psychology

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 Manufacturing, Wisconsin | 6 Comments

Cyberpunk Manufacturing

Posted on August 25, 2006 by John Hunter

Raising the Floor by Alex Soojung-Kim Pang: The transformation of the factory from a vast machine into a creative, knowledge-intensive space is a development few could have seen. Are you ready for the next industrial revolution? … So what will the factory of the future be like? It will be aware of how users are reacting to both its latest products and still-under-NDA prototypes, feeding off streams of information coming in from prototypes, recycled units, market-watching software agents, and blogs … Continue reading →

Posted in Management, Manufacturing

Health Care: Saving Lives

Posted on August 25, 2006 by John Hunter

We wrote about the IHI campaign to save lives through improved health care management previously – Saving Lives: US Health Care Improvement. IHI estimates 122,300 from December 2004 to June 2006. The PBS Newshour aired a report on the campaignhttps://management.curiouscatblog.net/2006/08/25/health-care-saving-lives/. Related: posts on Health Care Improvement – articles on improving healthcare

Posted in Health care, Management | 1 Comment

Making Changes and Taking Risks

Posted on August 24, 2006 by John Hunter

Sales Force by Curtis Hartman, 1996 explores Ron Rodin’s use of Deming’s ideas at Marshall Industries. Ron Rodin’s book, Free Perfect and Now, is excellent. The system had to change. “We eliminated commissions, incentives, promotions, contests, P&Ls, forecasts, budgets, the entire functional organization chart,” Rodin says. It was a radical move. Contests and commissions — internal competition — were a way of life in the industry, the universal motivational tool. Rodin was hammered when he unveiled the plan in an … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, IT, Management, Management Articles | Tagged Books, commissions, Deming, Systems thinking | 4 Comments

Internet Access at Work

Posted on August 23, 2006 by John Hunter

Providing internet access at work can create some management issues. However, the correct solution to those problems is not to be overly restrictive on access to the internet. Obviously, the most important thing is doing the work of the organization: there is no excuse for employees ignoring customers or pressing needs to IM with their friends or browse the web. However, if you hire responsible people and manage properly – maintaining a proper work culture, etc., you should respect and … Continue reading →

Posted in IT, Management, Respect | Tagged internet, IT, managing people, Psychology, respect for people, technology | 1 Comment

Toyota Land

Posted on August 22, 2006 by John Hunter

A visit to Toyota City: In Toyota land [the broken link was removed] by Vinod Jacob: When I was a little boy it was fascinating to read about Toyota’s vision for non-polluting vehicles to replace existing versions. I used to marvel at the sketches of the futuristic small vehicles plying inside the Toyota campus. A visit to the Toyota headquarters proved this to be a reality. Just outside the Toyota technical centre are the E-com vehicles put on a charger. … Continue reading →

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

Danaher Practicing Lean Thinking

Posted on August 22, 2006 by John Hunter

Manufacturer’s Acquisition Strategy Sets It Apart From The Pack [the broken link was removed], Investors Business Daily: “It’s adapted from the Japanese Kaizen system,” Holmstead said. “Kaizen is a way of removing waste and standardizing processes and bringing underperforming or slow-growth companies with maybe single-digit margins up to midteen margins.” The keys are standardization, measurement and innovation — all directed toward the goal of continuous improvement. “It’s basically a set of tools that allows Danaher to make whatever widget they … Continue reading →

Posted in Investing, Lean thinking, Management, Management Articles, Manufacturing | Tagged business, Investing, Lean thinking | 1 Comment

Gladwell (and Drucker) on Pensions

Posted on August 21, 2006 by John Hunter

The Risk Poolhttps://management.curiouscatblog.net/2006/08/21/gladwell-and-drucker-on-pensions/ by Malcolm Gladwell (author of The Tipping Point and Blink): The most influential management theorist of the twentieth century was Peter Drucker, who, in 1950, wrote an extraordinarily prescient article for Harper’s entitled “The Mirage of Pensions.” It ought to be reprinted for every steelworker, airline mechanic, and autoworker who is worried about his retirement. Drucker simply couldn’t see how the pension plans on the table at companies like G.M. could ever work. “For such a plan … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Economics, Health care, Investing, Management, Popular, Systems thinking | Tagged business, Data, Economics, Investing, leadership, long term thinking, Management | 1 Comment

Toyota’s New Texas Plant

Posted on August 20, 2006 by John Hunter

Toyota exec stands up to Texas heat [the broken link was removed] by Cheryl Hall: Toyota’s new Texas plant is coming on line and will further increase Toyota’s contribution to the US economy, by buying from local suppliers and most importantly by working with local suppliers: And he’s well-acquainted with those 21 on-site suppliers, which Toyota refers to as equal partners and a vital component in this ahead-of-the-industry endeavor. Each of the 200,000 trucks produced annually will have up to … Continue reading →

Posted in Management, Manufacturing, Respect, Toyota Production System (TPS)

Ackoff, Idealized Design and Bell Labs