Category Archives: Quality tools

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 … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Lean thinking, Management, Management Articles, Psychology, Quality tools | Tagged , , ,

Root Cause Analysis

Posted on August 17, 2006 by John Hunter

Nice post on Root Cause Analysis: This, more rigorous and long-lasting, approach to solving problems is called Root Cause Analysis. There are several tools that can aid in the process of Root Cause Analysis. One common tool developed by Toyota … Continue reading →

Posted in Management, Quality tools | Tagged , | 1 Comment

10 Kaizen Tips

Posted on August 12, 2006 by John Hunter

Kaizen Hot-Wash Lesson 6. Pick the right lean tool for the job and use it well. There are plenty of lean tools to choose for kaizen activities so your MUST determine the right tool and use it well. In our … Continue reading →

Posted in Lean thinking, Management, Quality tools

Lean Management Case Study

Posted on July 20, 2006 by John Hunter

Learning the Rules…Playing to Win [the broken link was removed] (pdf) Lean concepts are taught through discussion and hands-on discovery, not lectures.” A popular part of the experience involves various simulation exercises including the beer game, which teaches that poorly … Continue reading →

Posted in Lean thinking, Management, Management Articles, Process improvement, Quality tools, Systems thinking | Tagged | 1 Comment

The Birth of the Kaizen Blitz

Posted on July 19, 2006 by John Hunter

The Birth of the Kaizen Blitz [the broken link was removed] What happens when productivity improves to the point where fewer people are needed? Bodek says a layoff is a mistake. He says that Toyota, rather than eliminating the poorest … Continue reading →

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Evolution of the PDSA Cycle

Posted on July 17, 2006 by John Hunter

Evolution of the PDSA Cycle by Ron Moen and Cliff Norman. Another historical article that explores the growth of management improvement concepts – this time the PDSA improvement cycle. via: Deming Electronic Network [the broken link was removed] See also: … Continue reading →

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Fun Camping Drum-Buffer-Rope Example

Posted on July 3, 2006 by John Hunter

Shmula Goes Camping: Drum-Buffer-Rope Managing the Constraint is mostly about managing the non-bottleneck systems and making them “aware” how fast they should work — when they should slow down, when they should stop, or when they should increase pace and … Continue reading →

Posted in Management, Quality tools, Theory of Constraints | Tagged

TQM for the Water Business

Posted on July 1, 2006 by John Hunter

How dealers can put TQM to work [the broken link was removed] by Brian Cusimano Deming did not like the term TQM. It was not defined, so each person using it meant something different. And the faddish nature of the … Continue reading →

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Brainstorming Under Attack

Posted on June 14, 2006 by John Hunter

Brainstorming under attack: 8 errors in the WSJ [the broken link was removed]. The WSJ has their content behind a wall [the broken link was removed] so their content is not part of the web and so I have not … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Management, Quality tools | Tagged , , , ,

More Kaizen

Posted on June 14, 2006 by John Hunter

More Kaizen – Why Not Eleven? [the broken link was removed]: We also talk about lean production and Toyota methods and how far you have to go. He tells me about a course he did where the company took him … Continue reading →

Posted in Lean thinking, Quality tools | Tagged , | 1 Comment