Tag Archives: Lean thinking

Lean Thinking in Scotland

Posted on February 12, 2006 by John Hunter

The man who would save Scottish industry [the broken link was removed] by Terry Murden Ross says: “Lean thinking can be applied to almost any process, but the key is the involvement of those who actually do the work. I passionately believe that companies, councils and the NHS can make major improvements across all their key measures once they learn how to involve their staff in the elimination of wasted time.” The article offers few details but is another example … Continue reading →

Posted in Lean thinking, Management Articles, Public Sector, UK | Tagged ,

ThedaCare: Lean Healthcare

Posted on January 30, 2006 by John Hunter

Area health systems put customer service first [the broken link was removed] by MaryBeth Matzek In 2005, ThedaCare was able to save $10 million thanks to its lean programs and officials hope to save another $12 million this year, Toussaint said. ThedaCare’s march toward lean began when Toussaint started looking for a way to improve quality and service while cutting costs. He found what he was looking for in an unlikely place – a factory that produces lawnmowers and snow … Continue reading →

Posted in Health care, Lean thinking, Management Articles | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Management Excellence

Posted on January 23, 2006 by John Hunter

My comments on, Take off the Blinders [the broken link was removed]: I think the question of what other companies have management practices worth studying is interesting. The answer could be very helpful as others could learn from what those organizations do. There are at least two difficulties in identifying those organizations: 1) defining what set of criteria would indicate successful organizations 2) most often even companies that are doing many things well leave much to be desired (so picking … Continue reading →

Posted in Data, Deming, Lean thinking, Management, quote | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Lean Software Development

Posted on January 22, 2006 by John Hunter

Lean Software Development: A Field Guide [the broken link was removed] – the first 3 chapters of this new book are available online. Excellent, recommended for anyone interested in lean thinking ideas. Lean Software Development: An Agile Toolkit for Software Development Managers by Mary Poppendieck and Tom Poppendieck, 2003. Articles on lean programming by the Poppendieck’s

Posted in Management Articles | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Lean Accounting

Posted on January 15, 2006 by John Hunter

Lean Accounting (Lean Beans) [broken link was removed] by Sue Sondergelt We must get rid of Standard Cost and Absorption Accounting for managing the business. This is 1930’s thinking, when business was all labor, little material, and very little overhead. Today business is all material, very little labor, and moderate overhead. A nice short article introducing accounting issues which influence organizational behavior in the counter-productive ways. Accountants today need to change the way they think! We need to lose old … Continue reading →

Posted in Management Articles | Tagged

Lean Consumption

Posted on January 12, 2006 by John Hunter

Lean Consumption [the broken link was removed] by James P. Womack and Daniel T. Jones, Harvard Business Review. An excellent article on the topic of their book: Lean Consumption. The Principles of Lean Consumption The concepts underlying lean consumption boil down to six simple principles that correspond closely with those of lean production. (For more on these principles, see our book Lean Thinking.) Solve the customer’s problem completely by insuring that all the goods and services work, and work together. … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Customer focus, Lean thinking, Management | Tagged

Management Improvement Flavors

Posted on November 27, 2005 by John Hunter

Lean Manufacturing Visionary Jim Womack On Frontiers Of Lean Thinking [broken link has been removed], webcast and additional questions and answers: Question: For a firm seeking to improve — what comes first? Six Sigma quality or lean implementation? James Womack: Agh! These are all the same thing. You need to start with the value stream for every product, draw a map of its current state, and ask about each step: Is it valuable? Is it capable? Is it available? Is … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Lean thinking, Management, Popular, quote, Six sigma, Toyota Production System (TPS) | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Be Thankful for Lean Thinking

Posted on November 22, 2005 by John Hunter

Topics: Management Improvement and Economics The Dallas Federal Reserve white paper, Supply Chain Management: The Science of Better, Faster, Cheaper [the broken link was removed] by Thomas F. Siems provides a macroeconmic view of what to be thankful due to the practice of lean thinking: Through better information engineering, supply chain improvements have resulted in a reduced bullwhip effect, lower inventory levels, reduced logistics costs, and streamlined payments. These improvements appear to have helped produce macroeconomic benefits such as more … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Lean thinking, Management, Six sigma | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Lean Development

Posted on October 25, 2005 by John Hunter

Lean Development, by Freddy Ball and Michael Ball. Great article. According to a National Center for Manufacturing Sciences report, Toyota product development projects can take half the time of US equivalents, with four times their productivity (150 product engineers utilised by Toyota per car programme versus 600 for twice as long at Chrysler). … As with implementing the Toyota production system, a more precise understanding of development practices doesn’t necessarily help to improve the efficiency of engineering projects for a … Continue reading →

Posted in Management, Management Articles | Tagged ,

Going Beyond (or away from) Lean Thinking?

Posted on October 25, 2005 by John Hunter

Topic: Management Improvement Continuous Improvement – Lean Alone No Longer Cutting It [the broken link was removed] by Tonya Vinas [the broken link was removed], IndustryWeek: It’s a dicey time for manufacturers that have spent the past five to 10 years on the lean journey. They and their top-level executives are finding that lean alone is not enough. Well I would agree “lean,” as it is commonly implemented, is not enough. I believe ideas from Deming that are missing from … Continue reading →

Posted in Management | Tagged | 2 Comments

Lean Consumption: the Customer’s Perspective

Posted on October 12, 2005 by John Hunter

Lean Consumption: Defining Value from the Customer’s Perspective [the broken link was removed], AutoAsia magazine. The recently released, Lean Solutions, as well as, The Toyota Way Fieldbook, are required reading for anyone serious about applying lean concepts. And truly both should be read by anyone interested in management improvement (even those who are not lean experts or even that familiar with lean ideas). A short portion of the full article (exploring the ideas James Womack and Daniel Jones write about … Continue reading →

Posted in Management | Tagged | 1 Comment

Management Improvement in Healthcare

Posted on October 9, 2005 by John Hunter

Thinking out-of-the-box Helps Alexandra Hospital Reduce Patient Waiting Time, Singapore News, via Panta Rei. Another example of lean principles being used by government: When looking for solutions to cut patients’ waiting time, Alexandra Hospital took an out-of-the-box approach and looked at a factory’s production line. More specifically, the Toyota production line. … While a team of 12 staff used to screen 22 patients per hour, the same team can now screen 70 patients per hour – a 400-per-cent increase in … Continue reading →

Posted in Health care, Lean thinking, Management | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

More Lean Government

Posted on October 7, 2005 by John Hunter

Lean thinking ideas are about eliminating waste. Some who believe the government should just be smaller, talk about a lean government, but that is not the same thing as a government that applies the concepts of lean thinking. Toyota is very lean and very large. Most business apply lean concepts with the goal of growing the size of their organization as they are better able to serve customers and compete in the marketplace. The first Public Sector Shingo Prizes [the … Continue reading →

Posted in Lean thinking, Management, Public Sector | Tagged , | 1 Comment

The Dramatic Spread of Lean Thinking

Posted on October 3, 2005 by John Hunter

Topic: Management Improvement and Economics The Dramatic Spread of Lean Thinking [the broken link was removed] by Jim Womack: Currently we are experiencing an explosion of interest in applying lean thinking to practically every process in every corner of the world. And it is causing all of us in the Lean Community to think about how we can best serve the needs we are hearing about. … I am delighted with the spread of lean thinking far beyond the factory … Continue reading →

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

Visually Lean

Posted on September 2, 2005 by John Hunter

Lean From The Get-Go [the broken link has been removed] by Derek Korn. This short article does a nice job of illustrating several interesting lean concepts in practice. Work areas that are compact, but not cramped, not only promote efficient motion, but also improve scheduling accuracy by allowing a more precisely predictable determination of a job’s total cycle time. This total cycle time is not just the time a machine is producing chips; it takes into account all factors involved … Continue reading →

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

Toyota as Homebuilder

Posted on July 8, 2005 by John Hunter

Topic: Management Improvement Toyota Home – Applying the Toyota Production System to Home Building (broken link removed) from Evolving Excellence Toyota is all about cars and trucks, right? Not quite. I was just pointed to the Toyota Home [the broken link was removed] page on Toyota’s website, which briefly describes Toyota’s activities in the home building industry. From Toyota’s web site: Toyota Home – building 21st century comfort and luxury into houses in Japan. Come inside and see for yourself. … Continue reading →

Posted in Customer focus, Management, Toyota Production System (TPS) | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments