Lean Manufacturing Dream

Posted on July 6, 2006 by John Hunter

This article is from 2001 and worth reading. It is important to keep up with what is currently happening but there is a great deal of useful information from 5, 10,20, 50… years ago.

Achieving the lean dream [the broken link was removed] by Nelson J. Teed:

Growth and lean are great partners for another reason. Positive employee reaction to lean is crucial to success, and not automatic. Lean improves productivity and can reduce the number of people needed. Layoffs and employee involvement don’t mix — it’s the surest way to kill a lean conversion. The freed personnel should be absorbed by growth and natural attrition.

In some instances job cuts are required, but cuts are something to be upset with not brag about. If a lean effort brags about job cuts I think that is a very bad sign. See posts on respect for people a very important component of Deming and lean management systems.

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

Quality and Innovation

Posted on July 4, 2006 by John Hunter

I think the The Quality Movement Vs. The Innovation Movement by Bruce Nussbaum makes a mistake in calling the innovation movement separate from the quality movement.

Wow. It makes sense. The father of quality, of course, was Dr. W. Edwards Demming, and he preached for a very long time before he was really heard. In fact, as I recall, Japanese companies first accepted Demmings teachings long before U.S. and European corporations.

Lets quote Deming on innovation from New Economics, page 10:

No defects, no jobs. Absence of defects does not necessarily build business… Something more is required.

What is required? Innovation.
Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Innovation, Management, Popular, quote | 5 Comments

Toyota Homes

Posted on July 4, 2006 by John Hunter

Live in your next Toyota [the broken link was removed]:

Housing makes up less than 1% of Toyota’s $183 billion annual sales. But company officials say technology acquired from years of making cars is central to homebuilding Toyota style.

A “smart key” similar to the car key you don’t need to take out of your pocket to unlock your Toyota opens and closes the front door. A mechanism for reducing engine noise and tremors is installed under the floor to quiet upstairs shakes. Car paint-job skills deliver even scratch-resistant coating on walls.

Toyota homes are mass produced like Toyota cars. About 85% of the work on the metal-frame cubicles is finished at the plant. The prefabricated cubicles, made to order for the customer, are stacked like toy blocks with a huge crane and topped with a roof in just six hours.

Interesting. I still am surprised Toyota isn’t doing more with mass transit but they obviously know more than me. Toyota partner robots are a good strategic vision in my opinion.

Toyota made just 4,600 homes last year, and is planning 5,000 homes this year. But it’s on a roll, recording 50 straight months of on-year sales growth. It’s targeting 7,000 homes per year by 2010.

It would seem to me India and China would be a great growth market for Toyota homes. Obviously this is still a very small part of Toyota but 10 or 20 years from now people may wonder how Toyota became much more than a car company.

Could Toyota’s efforts beyond automobiles create problems over the long term? Yes. But Toyota’s solid management system is built with the knowledge that change is inevitable (Toyota’s Early History – Toyota was a loom maker before moving into the automobile industry). If Toyota wants to prosper in the future it needs to continue to grow and adapt and take risks.

Posted in Innovation, Management, Toyota Production System (TPS) | Tagged | 1 Comment

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 by how much. The Drum-Buffer-Rope system allows for a systems-wide awareness.

The Drum

The Bottleneck or Constraint, acts as a Drum — it sets the rhythm that the whole system should follow. In Lean Manufacturing, this is also called “Takt Time.”

Posted in Management, Quality tools, Theory of Constraints | Tagged | Comments Off on Fun Camping Drum-Buffer-Rope Example

Another Article on Lean UK Hospitals

Posted on July 3, 2006 by John Hunter

Country to follow the hospital’s ‘lean’ lead by Jane Lavender:

Since the introduction of lean thinking, the length of time it takes a patient to get from the accident and emergency to the operating theatre has been reduced by 38 per cent. Paper work has been cut by 42 per cent and the total time patients spend in hospital has been slashed by 32 per cent.

The article also says “Nine months ago the hospital became one of only six in the world” which I don’t think is accurate. I think far more have been applying lean thinking for quite some time. Still this article is another example of the “buzz” around lean thinking.

Posts on lean thinking and lean manufacturing
Posts on improving the heath care system

Posted in Health care, Lean thinking, Management, Public Sector, UK | Comments Off on Another Article on Lean UK Hospitals

Seminars by Toyota UK

Posted on July 3, 2006 by John Hunter
‘Increasing quality, efficiency and profitability via A Lean Approach’ is a series of six one day tour, seminar and workshop events at the Toyota Motor Manufacturing (UK) plant in Burnaston, Derbyshire that focuses on the Toyota Production System (TPS) and Quality Management.

Guests can choose from three workshops, HRM, Visual Control or Practical Problem Solving, and take part in a Q&A session with the speakers: Hein Van Gerwen, Managing Director; Carl Klemm, Deputy Managing Director; Clive Bridge, Corporate Affairs Director and Richard Humbert, Quality Assurance General Manager, all from Toyota Motor Manufacturing (UK).

The event is free. Donations of £1,000 to the NSPCC are recommended.

Looks like a great opportunity [the broken link was removed].

via: Evolving Excellence

Posted in Manufacturing, Toyota Production System (TPS), UK | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Six Sigma Theory?

Posted on July 2, 2006 by John Hunter

Can we develop theory around Six Sigma? Should we care? [the broken link was removed] by Suzanne de Treville, Norman M. Edelson, Anilkumar N. Kharkar and Benjamin Avanzi.

An interesting paper exploring what six sigma means and what it mean that what it means depends on who you ask. The ideas explored provide good information for most management improvement programs as most share common tools and concepts but vary significantly between implementations. Why examine the question of six sigma theory?

We suggest that Six Sigma—in (a) recommending behavior and goals and (b) claiming that such behavior and goals will improve performance outcomes—goes beyond describing, classifying, and pure prediction. Six Sigma is playing the role of a theory, and it should be evaluated as such.
Posted in Management Articles, Six sigma | Tagged | Comments Off on Six Sigma Theory?

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 term drew a large number of “hacks” (consultants who spoke with authority but without knowledge). Seeing the term TQM used now however, I find refreshing. To use the term TQM you must go against the temptation to talk only about the current fad (learning organizations, reengineering, balanced scorecard, six sigma, lean…). This author defines what he means by TQM:

Total quality management (TQM) is simply a customer-focused dedication to continually improving everything you do every day. TQM is disciplined thinking about organizational goals, processes, and people, to ensure that the correct activities are completed correctly the first time.
Let’s say the dealer’s historic (benchmark) USC ratio is 1 percent. Recent USC ratios have been in the 3-4 percent range, so the problem is growing.

There are many TQM tools that can be used to solve such problems, including Pareto, fishbone diagrams, control charting, and cause-and-effect diagrams. In this case we will use the methods of ppm-defective and Pareto. Pareto simply uses bar charts to analyze the proportion of different defects.

Posted in Management, Quality tools | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on TQM for the Water Business

CEO Flight Attendant

Posted on July 1, 2006 by John Hunter

Street Smarts: Learning From JetBlue by Norm Brodsky.

The Jet Blue CEO works (once a month he estimates) as a flight attendant. He interacts directly with customers in real world situations (not just talking to travel managers in his office). This getting out and seeing work in action is exposed a great deal, including a lean management concept, Genchi Genbutsu – to go to see the problem in situ (not just reading a report about it).

he’s shaping the company culture. Employees see him working the crowd, going out of his way to help a customer, and they do the same. They hear him talking about the plans to introduce new services, and they spread the word.

The value of such action is related to how it is done. Executives that really just want to check off a box so they can get back to their “real work” add little value and probably do more harm than good. Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Customer focus, Deming, Management, quote, Respect, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

New Look American Manufacturing

Posted on June 30, 2006 by John Hunter

The New Look American Manufacturing [the broken link was removed] by Dale Buss:

The evidence shows that American manufacturers that revise their processes and integrate technology in ways that allow them to stay close to customers can survive the onslaught from China. Adaptability is key above all other factors.

I agree by applying lean manufacturing and other management improvement ideas manufacturers can (and are) prospering in the USA. I don’t think one factor is the key. Many factors determine whether the USA will continue to lead the world in manufacturing. The USA has to continue to support a dynamic economic system, maintain a transportation system, improve the health care system, improve the educational system, maintain the rule of law, reduce excessive legal costs, improve the management of manufacturers etc.. Each country has to work on these and other systems to stay competitive globally.

“Those American manufacturers who are succeeding today are focusing on doing one thing: innovate, innovate, innovate,” says Scott Kingdom, global managing director of industrial markets for Korn/Ferry International, a management consulting firm. “They’re doing more valuable, higher-margin, mission-critical sorts of things that are less apt to be outsourced or taken abroad.”

Once again the innovation mantra is stated. I agree innovation is good and is helping American (and overseas) manufacturers. But it is not the only thing (unless you just classify everything as innovation – lean manufacturing, customer focus, long term planning, cooperation with suppliers, systems thinking, six sigma, savings through the proper application of information technology, quick response…).

Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Lean thinking, Management, Manufacturing | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments