[The video was removed from YouTube]
Interesting, 4 minute, segment on Toyota management practices from a business TV show.
via: Lean Six Sigma Academy Blog [the broken link was removed]
Related: New Toyota CEO’s Views – What drives Toyota? – Toyota – Repect for People – Dell Falls Short – posts on management webcasts
The newest data from the UN* confirms most of the recent trends in manufacturing output – most notably that China continues to grow dramatically. The data also shows a stagnation in USA manufacturing output over the last several years, though the USA remains by far the largest manufacturer. The most significant news from this latest data, I believe, is that that manufacturing output growth in the USA has been slower than global manufacturing output growth from 2002-2005. This was not the case prior to 2002. I will be writing more on this data in the Curious Cat Investing and Economics Blog. UN Data, in billions of current US dollars:
| Country | 1990 | 1995 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USA | 1,040 | 1,289 | 1,543 | 1,460 | 1,471 | 1,488 | 1,545 | 1,493 |
| Japan | 809 | 1,217 | 1,033 | 857 | 807 | 886 | 962 | 964 |
| China | 143 | 299 | 484 | 527 | 573 | 664 | 788 | 895 |
| Germany | 437 | 517 | 392 | 389 | 407 | 490 | 566 | 594 |
| United Kingdom | 207 | 221 | 230 | 218 | 222 | 239 | 283 | no data |
| Italy | 240 | 226 | 206 | 205 | 218 | 259 | 295 | 291 |
| France | 200 | 233 | 190 | 185 | 192 | 228 | 256 | 253 |
| Korea | 200 | 233 | 190 | 185 | 192 | 228 | 256 | 253 |
| Canada | 92 | 100 | 129 | 119 | 120 | 149 | 170 | 196 |
| Brazil | 117 | 149 | 120 | 102 | 95 | 109 | 130 | 171 |
| Spain | 108 | 107 | 98 | 100 | 108 | 134 | 153 | 160 |
| Mexico | 50 | 55 | 107 | 110 | 111 | 104 | 111 | 122 |
| Russia | 201 | 104 | 73 | 77 | 54 | 64 | 92 | 117 |
| India | 50 | 60 | 67 | 68 | 72 | 84 | 100 | 116 |
Interesting article on applying game theory to business decisions. Game theory is a tool that is not often used. Though most organizations are probably better off improving how they use the rest of their management tools, it is fun to read about and does have merit in the right situations. 16,777,236 [the broken link was removed] – That’s the number of outcomes that are possible when eight competitors each consider three strategic options.
This podcast on Lego Mindstorms NXT, Lead Users, and Viral Marketing [the broken link was removed] is interesting. The discussion does a good job of explaining how factors like web 2.0 and “open source” can allow business to operate in a new way and take advantage of new opportunities. Understanding these ideas is much more innovative than most of what I read in the “business press.” And the message is explained clearly, so one does not need to understand these concepts to appreciate the business opportunities. See links below: Lego Mindstorms are also just cool.
via: eContent
Related: Open Source for LEGO Mindstorms – Lego Learning – science and engineering podcast libraries – Gadgets and Gifts – Intellectual Property Rights and Innovation – Better and Different
Well actually it isn’t a secret – it is in fact the Toyota Production/Management System. Maybe, if people assume the TPS is about improvement in the factory alone, then they could miss the true importance as the management system that it is. So I quibble a little bit with the title but this is actually a good article by John Teresko, Toyota’s Real Secret: Hint, It’s Not TPS [the broken link was removed]:
One secret behind Toyota’s lean product development success is the same one supporting TPS — the Toyota Management System and its dedication to continuous improvement. Morgan and Liker emphasize Toyota’s commitment to “the importance of appropriately integrating people, processes, tools and technology to add value to the customer and society.”
Nice article, nice title too, a bit overoptimistic maybe but still nice 🙂 – It’s Easy Being Lean [the broken link was removed]:
Loderstedt says NJMEP helped companies develop 338 projects last year. Of these, 160, or 47 percent, focused on applying the principles of lean manufacturing. That was up from about 25 percent in 2003, he says.
NJMEP is part of the national Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership, which falls under the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology. There are 350 such locations throughout the United States and Puerto Rico, which operate through a mix of state and federal grants and revenue from private companies.
Related: Wisconsin Manufacturing – Global Manufacturing Jobs Data – Applied Quality Engineering Education – lean thinking articles
Recipe For Success [the broken link was removed]:
I have discussed some of his ideas before in, for example, Agile Management (which includes a link to a interesting interview on David Anderson’s work at Microsoft incorporating Deming’s ideas and Theory of Constraints. Others might have their own focus but creating a focus to your efforts is valuable.
I don’t have mine as nicely framed but for me: build capacity (of the organization, which largely means building the capacity of the people) and seek systemic improvement (not how to improve the results today or tomorrow but how to improve the system so results will be better as a consequence). And, for my current position, prioritize (the IT solutions provided and the management improvement aims).
Related: A project is a collection of value scheduled for realization – D.J. Anderson [the broken link was removed] – Microsoft CMMI – Posted in Management Tagged Software Development, Systems thinking Comments Off on Focus on Quality and…
The new Newt thing [the broken link was removed]
No one is insulted. On the contrary, everyone is enthralled by Gingrich and his well-informed romp through management history. (“There’s this whole romantic side to him,” Gingrich says enthusiastically about management guru W. Edwards Deming. “He wrote religious songs.”)
I am not really sure what he means by “externalized systems.” He does actually know about Deming’s idea and management history. For those outside the USA he is a former Speaker of the House of Representatives and current Republican Presidential candidate.
Continue reading
Interesting paper – The Dynamics of Crowd Disasters: An Empirical Study [the broken link was removed] (see other interesting material on the website). Systems thinking allowed the engineers to design a solution that wasn’t about enforcing the existing rules more but changing the system so that the causes of the most serious problems are eliminated.
Related: Hajj stampede kills hundreds [the broken link was removed] – Hajj deaths dismay Arab press – systems thinking blog posts
This presentation web video discusses the idea of managing corporate information: Seamless Information Capture and Discovery for Corporate Memory [the broken link was removed]. The video focuses on discussing technical solutions.
The most important factor to me, is the value to improving management. The technology discussed here eventually could help lead to the adoption of Dr. Ackoff’s ideas on capturing corporate decision making. Then that will allow evaluating decisions for systemic weakness and strengths to improve decision making. Ackoff’s ideas in this area tie very closely to Dr. Deming’s ideas on the theory of knowledge and the importance of prediction to management.
There are several reason these ideas have not been adopted but one is that they require some effort to document and then evaluate (and often those are missing). So many see any time spent improving the system as waste (based on their actions not that they would say such a thing) – they are only happy when producing today or fire fighting to enable producing today.
This video touches on some ideas that might help better adopt Ackoff and Deming’s ideas. A good deal of thought is needed on how to use the technology tools to implement the ideas, but new technical solutions are providing options. Blogs, Wikis, improved search for stored data, the ease of creating intranet applications…. are some additional tools that can be used to improve.
The technology itself is fine but not itself the important factor in my opinion. The potential to better apply the management improvement ideas using the technology is where I see the power. My initial idea is to use an understanding of Deming’s ideas on theory of knowledge and Ackoff’s decision documentation process and then figure out how to use the technology to create a practical process (that is easy to use and get the desired benefits).
Related: Making Better Decisions – Ackoff’s F-laws: Common Sins of Management – articles and podcats by Ackoff – posts on Deming’s ideas – Toyota IT Overview – Who Influences Your Thinking?
