Tag Archives: Wisconsin

Lessons for Managers from Wisconsin and Duke Basketball

Posted on April 6, 2015 by John Hunter

What can managers learn from Duke and Wisconsin’s basketball teams? Duke and Wisconsin are in the college basketball championship game tonight. They reached this stage through a great deal of hard work, skill, training and coaching. Raw talent matters to mangers and even more to college basketball coaches. But raw talent alone won’t succeed (for college basketball teams a great system starved of raw talent would also fail). The lesson many people miss is that college teams are mostly about … Continue reading →

Posted in Management, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

How ‘Buy American’ Can Hurt U.S. Firms

Posted on September 16, 2009 by John Hunter

How ‘Buy American’ Can Hurt U.S. Firms Canadian communities angered by perceived American chauvinism have started a Buy Canadian campaign to exclude U.S. bidders from municipal contracts. “If that sticks, well, there goes 25% of my business,” said Mr. Pokorsky. “To me, Ontario may as well be Indiana.” Halton Hills, a town of 50,000 people about 25 miles west of Toronto, is one of about a dozen Canadian communities forging ahead with plans to amend their procurement policies to freeze … Continue reading →

Posted in Competition, Economics, Lean thinking, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Invest in New Management Methods Not a Failing Company, 1986

Posted on November 22, 2008 by John Hunter

Invest in New Management Methods Not a Failing Company by William Hunter, 1986 I predict American Motors will stop making cars in Wisconsin in the near future, whether or not the state’s money is used for a temporary propping-up operation. These competitors are beginning to understand how essential it is to take a long-term view of their businesses. Toyota, for example, took its top 40 managers on a two-day retreat to ponder what their corporation will look like in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Management | Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

Making Life Difficult for Customers

Posted on September 27, 2008 by John Hunter

Companies seem to think technology is an excuse to provide bad service. Or maybe they don’t need any excuse at all to do so, based on how often they provide bad service. My latest experience with lame pointy haired boss technology came while looking to watch a football game online. Years ago you could listen to any Wisconsin Badger game over the internet – very simple, no special software (just the simple free Real Audio plugin). In subsequent years (just … Continue reading →

Posted in Customer focus, IT, Management, Software Development | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

Parfrey’s Glen, Wisconsin

Posted on July 30, 2008 by John Hunter

See more photos from my visit to Parfrey’s Glen Natural Area in Wisconsin, about an hour outside of Madison. It really was amazingly beautiful – the pictures do not do it justice. The Parfrey’s Glen trail is under a mile but well worth visiting. If you want to hike more try the Ice Age National Scenic Trail or nearby Devil’s Lake State Park. The top photo is of me (John Hunter) at nearby Durwood’s Glen. The yellow flower is from … Continue reading →

Posted in curiouscat.com, Travel photos | Tagged , , , ,

Engineering Innovation for Manufacturing and the Economy

Posted on November 11, 2007 by John Hunter

Editorial: Engineering Innovation, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: They are the invisible heroes in business, the men and women who make innovation possible. They are people like Mary Ann Wright at Johnson Controls in Milwaukee, the former chief engineer for the Ford Escape hybrid who is leading a team bent on establishing world leadership in hybrid battery systems. Or Werner Zobel, a Modine Manufacturing engineer working in Germany who hatched the idea for a new cooling system that the Racine-based company believes … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Lean thinking, Management, Manufacturing, Public Sector, Science, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Applied Quality Engineering Education

Posted on January 10, 2007 by John Hunter

Classroom projects translate into immediate workplace gains for working professionals in engineering [the broken link was removed] In the final semester of his UW–Madison master’s degree, Bob Aloisi didn’t just earn a letter grade in his quality engineering class: He saved his company $50,000. It wasn’t the typical classroom outcome — but it wasn’t a typical classroom. As a student in “Quality Engineering and Quality Management,” Aloisi accomplished a major class project in quality improvement at his own workplace. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Career, Education, Management, Science | Tagged , , , ,

Going Lean Brings Long-term Payoffs

Posted on September 10, 2006 by John Hunter

Going lean brings long-term payoffs [the broken link was removed] by John Torinus: The growing number of Wisconsin manufacturers, and the few service companies, taking the lean journey are learning that it is not a sprint. … The immediate paybacks come in the form of saved space, less distance traveled, fewer handoffs, faster throughput, lower inventories and man-hours saved. I would state the authors next point differently. The early successes provide resources to invest in making large more fundamental changes … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Lean thinking, Management, Management Articles, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Wisconsin Manufacturing

Posted on August 27, 2006 by John Hunter

Editorial: A way forward for state companies [the broken link was removed], Milwaukee Journal Sentinel The idea of lean manufacturing is pretty close to a religion at Ariens these days. The tenets: Be quick on the draw. Improve continuously. Be open to change. Get everyone – shop floor to board room – involved. The company’s output has nearly tripled in six years with a work force that has remained steady at about 1,000. Productivity is up, on average, about 17% … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Lean thinking, Management, Public Sector | Tagged , | 6 Comments

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

The Public Sector and Deming

Posted on January 7, 2006 by John Hunter

In, Public Management-The Bush Administration, Paul Soglin, former Mayor of Madison Wisconsin, quotes one of Deming’s 14 obligations of management: W. Edwards Deming’s point number ten is, “Eliminate slogans, exhortations, and targets for the workplace.” In looking for online background on Deming thinking in Madison I came across this explanation of Madison’s start [the broken link was removed], on the US Department of Labor site: Madison’s quality improvement efforts began after then-Mayor James F. Sensenbrenner and his staff were exposed … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Management, Public Sector, quote | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments