Tag Archives: waste

Productivity Improvement for Entrepreneurs (and Everybody Else Really)

Posted on March 14, 2011 by John Hunter

The 3 Factors That are Limiting Your Productivity [the broken link has been removed] by Evan Carmichael Elimination is at the core of every successful business. You have to focus on what you’re really good [at], what drives your business forward, and what you’re legally required to do in order to stay in business. Everything else should be eliminated. … Just because everyone else does it or because you’ve always done it that way, it doesn’t mean you have to … Continue reading →

Posted in Career, Management, Process improvement, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Not Exactly Lean Packaging

Posted on July 23, 2008 by John Hunter

HP shatters excessive packaging world record (17 boxes to protect 32 A4 sheets of paper) Stephen said: “Imagine our excitement as we opened it, hoping against hope that it might contain a copy of some c-class virtual connect firmware that actually works.” Sadly not. What the überbox did contain was 16 smaller boxes “which in turn [each] contained (wrapped in foam so they wouldn’t get broken) exactly two sheets of A4 paper” It is hard to imagine what management system … Continue reading →

Posted in Customer focus, Lean thinking, Management, Process improvement | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Reduce Computer Waste

Posted on May 24, 2007 by John Hunter

High-efficiency power supplies for home computers and servers [the broken link was removed] (pdf) by Urs Hoelzle and Bill Weihl – Google: Most likely, the computer you’re using wastes 30-40% of the electrical power it consumes because it is using an inefficient power supply. It’s difficult to believe that something as basic as a power supply could be responsible for that amount of waste, but it’s true. … The opportunity for savings is immense — we estimate that if deployed … Continue reading →

Posted in Google, Innovation, IT, Lean thinking | Tagged , | 6 Comments

Using Google to Eliminate Some IT Costs

Posted on March 24, 2007 by John Hunter

Computer Science 101: A Case Study In Google Applications [the broken link was removed]: Sannier plans to shut down the university’s own e-mail servers later this spring. When that happens, thousands more will move over. The portal provides access to other functions of Google Apps, including calendar (which users can now share online, something they couldn’t do before), instant messaging, and search. Within the next two months, Sannier expects to offer personalized home pages and Google’s Docs & Spreadsheets applications … Continue reading →

Posted in Google, Innovation, IT, Management | Tagged , , , ,

What Is Muda?

Posted on July 27, 2006 by John Hunter

What Is Muda? [the broken link was removed] by Norman Bodek Excellent article on lean thinking, management improvement and eliminating waste. Setup time and machine downtime are wastes and should be eliminated. I remember visiting a washing machine plant in Japan operated by Panasonic, where there was no separate maintenance department. The company taught operators in the plant to fix their own machines. And since Shingo’s great breakthroughs on setup reduction, changeovers are often done in seconds, not in hours. … Continue reading →

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

IQ and Muda: Information Quality Eliminates Waste

Posted on December 1, 2005 by John Hunter

IQ and Muda: Information Quality Eliminates Waste [the broken link was removed] by Larry English The article provides an explanation of each of these 9 types of muda and relates them to information quality: There are nine types of muda in information quality: Muda of overproduction Muda of inventory Muda of repair/rejects Muda of motion Muda of processing Muda of transport Muda of waiting Muda of process failure caused by defective information Muda of wrong or suboptimized decisions caused by … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, IT, Management | Tagged ,