Demand Surges for Lean Talent Over Six Sigma March 29, 2012
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in lean, six sigma.Tags: lean, six sigma
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In an IndustryWeek analysis of an Avery Point Group study, the demand for lean skills is outpacing demand for Six Sigma skills this year by 68%, whereas last year lean outpaced Six Sigma demand by only 35%. The reason why is inferred to be because lean is viewed as being a faster system of improvement than Six Sigma.
For more of the IndustryWeek analysis, head on over to see the article here.
Securing the Elusive Lean Buy-In March 29, 2012
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in change management, lean.Tags: change management, lean
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Jamie Flinchbaugh, writing over at IndustryWeek, presents a four-step process for a successful lean buy-in. Among those steps are treating those you are seeking to buy into not as enemies, but as customers; and overcoming the valid “no” by responding to questions and concerns about the buy-in.
Check out Jamie’s IndustryWeek article here.
Takt Times and Falling Sales: How to Respond? March 29, 2012
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in lean, strategy.Tags: lean, strategy
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Michael Baudin, in response to a reader question about falling sales, explains at his blog that takt time is not just customer demand, but the division of production time by demand. Fluctuations in sales need to be distinguished from major changes, the latter of which needs addressing. A major downturn, for example, would mandate reducing production. Many people struggle with how to deal with lean implementation during lean economic times, and this adds an important point or two.
For Michael’s response at his blog, head on over here.
Straight Talk: Avoid the Con of Quick and Easy Lean March 29, 2012
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in culture, lean.Tags: culture, lean
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Lawrence Miller, writing at IndustryWeek, makes the case that lean is a multiyear process more akin to a lifestyle change than a diet. Some lean gurus present lean as if it was a system of quick, painless fixes. Lawrence provides some helpful hints about how to avoid such false promises. Among them, saving money comes at the expense of trimming the workforce. Lawrence also provides some truthful information about lean, including the need for active leadership.
For Lawrence Miller’s informative article, please head here.
12 Narrow Lean Gates March 29, 2012
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in lean.Tags: lean
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One of the reasons lean often fails is because its principles are violated. This occurs out of ignorance, impatience, and other reasons. A Bible quote illustrations a broad gate and road does not lead to life, but a narrow gate does. Twelve narrow gates through which a lean journey must pass are presented, including moving beyond only event-driven kaizen and celebrating problems to solve them.
Travel on over to the Gemba Tales Blog for the gates post.
Lean Chickens, 1, Fat Lions, 0 February 27, 2012
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in lean, manufacturing, strategy, supply chain.Tags: lean, manufacturing, strategy, supply chain
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Bill Waddell presents an interesting study of production. Golden Bear, Ltd., has received the contract to produce Pride the Lion, the official mascot of the British Olympic Team. Pride is being produced in China because it has been argued that he is too expensive to produce elsewhere. Pride retails for $20. Meanwhile, Montana-based American company West Paw Design makes a sustainable, fluffy product called a Spring Chicken that is larger than Pride –and it retails for $14. The difference? Lean-based West Paw oversees everything itself, while Pride must be overseen by offices in both London and China.
For Bill’s very thought-provoking article, head here.
Lean Versus the Toyota Productive System February 27, 2012
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in lean.Tags: lean
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Michael Baudin, writing at his blog, explains that there is a difference between lean and TPS –and has to do with packaging as well as substance. He contends that whereas TPS may be defined as a cookie-cutter approach to each company, lean is more dynamic and malleable, provided its core principles are not violated. Michael also notes that the label “lean” is slapped on just about anything these days.
To read his views on the distinction between lean and TPS, check out Michael’s post here.
Graphic Representation of a Lean Schedule February 27, 2012
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in lean, Lean Tools & Techniques.Tags: lean, Lean Tools & Techniques
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Michael Baudin has posted a visual representation of lean scheduling over at his blog. It is adapted from a real test data set, and is an interesting graphic to view.
Head on over here to view the graphic.
ThedaCare’s “Business Performance System” – and a 10% Target February 27, 2012
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in change management, healthcare, lean.Tags: change management, healthcare, lean
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Mark Graban speaks about the book On the Mend: Revolutionizing Healthcare to Save Lives and Transform the Industry by John Toussaint in a blog post at Lean Blog. Mark highlights the lean efforts of ThedaCare in a blog post by Toussaint as well, including the failure of achieving their goal of increasing productivity by 10% annually. This caused a period of intense self-reflection, and importantly, ThedaCare did not blame its employees but rather their system of management.
To read Mark’s post, head on over here.
Sharpen Your Focus by Selecting the Vital Few Breakthrough Objectives with Hoshin Kanri January 30, 2012
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in culture, lean.Tags: culture, lean
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Tim McMahon, writing at A Lean Journey, talks about the two kinds of changes that occur: small, incremental changes, and large, dramatic changes. While both matter, sometimes the larger, more dramatic changes are what lead to real breakthroughs.
Check out Mr. McMahon’s informative post here.
You Are a Monument Machine December 18, 2011
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in lean, personal productivity.Tags: lean, personal productivity
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The newsletter from Time Back Management (available to be viewed as a PDF) talks about how changing between tasks can create unproductive downtime. In order to avoid unproductive downtime, shut out interruptions like e-mail alerts. Close doors. Find somewhere quiet to work. In an analogous way, we can personally experience the same problems as machines, which experience costly “changeover time” to switch between tasks.
Head here for the site and a link to the newsletter.
The Personal Kanban: Not Just “Vocabulary Engineering” December 18, 2011
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in lean, personal productivity, Pull Systems.Tags: lean, personal productivity, Pull Systems
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Writing on Time Back Management, Jim respectfully disagrees with Michael Baudin, a lean expert, who posted his view that personal kanban is “vocabulary engineering”. Jim says that work in progress – especially modern work – needs visualization to avoid overload. While he agrees with some of the weaknesses using kanban at a personal level, Jim’s personal experience leads him to conclude that the benefits outweigh the problems and that kanban methods can get results when applied at a personal level.
Read Jim’s arguments here.
Toyota’s True North Concept December 18, 2011
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in lean, Lean Thinking.Tags: lean, Lean Thinking
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Art Smalley, writing over at the Lean Edge, talks about Toyota’s True North concept. He talks about his dislike of the use of the buzz word “True North”, believing it doesn’t help to clarify anything. What is at that northernmost point is the idea about what a company should do, not what it can do. Always driving at what should be done, rather doing what can be done, helps motivate and push businesses along.
For Art’s post and a graphic depicting the True North concept, click here.
Illogical Progression December 18, 2011
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in lean, strategy.Tags: lean, strategy
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The Old Lean Dude follows up his September post on policy deployment (also known as a roadmap for improvement) with another where he defines that it is important to know where you are going. Furthermore, the road map must be concurrent with the lean journey. As the journey progresses, so does the map.
For more of Bruck Hamilton’s thoughts on policy deployment, head here.
Building Manager Standard Work December 18, 2011
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in lean, personal productivity, Standard Work.Tags: 5S, lean, personal productivity, standard work
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Jamie Flinchbaugh, writing for IndustryWeek, explains how standardization creates more free time that can be used effectively. He provides a number of helpful suggestions for doing this, including using 5S to handle time, and not spending time standardizing what is obvious or routine.
Read Jamie’s article and his thoughts here.
GM’s Detroit-Hamtramck Plant Used Dark Days of Recession to Get Better December 18, 2011
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in automotive, lean, strategy.Tags: automotive, lean, strategy
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During the worst days of the recession, General Motors’s Detroit-Hamtramck Plant decided to focus on people, retooling the plant to turn out Chevy Volts and other electric cars. Through continuous improvement, standardized work, laying out the facility in a lean fashion, insourcing strategically, and adopting other lean strategies, the change was a success. In the process, waste has been reduced 15% and the company saves a million dollars annually simply by having switched certain riveting robots.
Check out the IndustryWeek article about the change here.
Snowflakes, Structural Collapse, and the Simplification of Lean December 18, 2011
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in lean.Tags: lean
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Jon Miller at Gemba Panta Rei laments how the popularity of lean has led to oversimplification of lean. This is natural of both lean and science, collapsing things to get to the main idea and the main points. But doing this can be costly when lean is oversimplified. Rather, like a snowflake, lean must be seen from a variety of dimensions.
Read Jon’s thoughts here.
Applying TPS Beyond the Shop Floor December 18, 2011
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in lean, Lean Thinking.Tags: lean, Lean Thinking
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Ron Pereira, writing at LSS Academy, shares a video about applying TPS beyond the factory or shop floor. Toyota is dedicated to helping communities after disasters, and they translated their system of manufacturing to the Saint Bernard Project in Louisiana, where rehabbed homes are completed much faster.
Check out the video here.
The Last Step to 5 Whys Process – The “So What?” Test November 17, 2011
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in lean, Lean Thinking.Tags: lean, Lean Thinking
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Best accomplished with a team, the 5 Whys Process “So What” test is a root cause analysis technique of addressing a problem. Once a problem or issue is discovered, tracing the source of the problem comes next. (For example, the milk is sour because milk was on sale, too much milk was purchased to save money, which led to more milk than could be consumed before expiration.) Though it may seem like common sense and a waste of time, asking “so what?” is more useful than one might think.
Check out the LSS Academy post here.
Hoshin Kanri is Key to Success at Orbital Sciences November 17, 2011
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in lean, quality.Tags: lean, quality
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Orbital Sciences, which manufactures rockets and space systems for civilian and defense agencies, had been on a seven year-long lean journey. Because the company must be NASA certified, they have high quality standards to meet, and they do that through the use of lean. Among the actions members of the company take is that of a monthly meeting where progress, processes and objectives are targeted, discussed, and planned.
Check out the IndustryWeek write-up here.
What’s the Role of Technology in Continuous Improvement? November 17, 2011
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in lean, new products and technologies, Uncategorized.Tags: lean, new products and technologies
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More than mere technology change is needed for continuous improvement, says Ralph Keller at IndustryWeek. While technology changes may help advance continuous improvement processes, they are not the sole underlying cause. Usually, technology changes aren’t even needed to improve quality and business processes.
Check out the IndustryWeek article here.
The Positive Trend of “Lean Design” of Space & Processes in Healthcare November 17, 2011
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in healthcare, lean.Tags: healthcare, lean
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Mark Graban writes in his Lean Blog that he is happy that lean is taking root in hospitals, especially over the last few years. Lean at hospitals – when it is done right - is patient-centered and staff-friendly. Mark provides a wealth of links and videos relating to successful lean hospital processes, news, and writing.
Take a look at his post here.
13 Questions to Assess Lean Competence in an Organization November 17, 2011
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in lean, Lean Thinking, strategy.Tags: lean, Lean Thinking, strategy
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Jon Miller’s post on Gemba Panta Rei talks about lean competence that can be assessed through the use of insightful questions. Among these questions: “Are problems hidden or made visible?” “Are people viewed as short-term costs or long-term investments?” “Is getting to work on a plan quickly more important than slowly forming an effective process?”
Check out Mr. Miller’s post, as well as the rest of the assessment questions here.
How to Design a Lean Implementation so Failure is Guaranteed June 2, 2011
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in change management, lean.Tags: change management, lean
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Lonnie Wilson, founder of Quality Consultants, provides three characteristics that will help those implementing lean determine their rate of success. In her IndustryWeek article, she talks about these characteristics –such as whether or not a company’s culture change has been integrated into everyday activities. The associated error with this characteristic is giving people tools, and the theory of the tools, but leaving them without the proper capacity to actually apply them.
Read Ms. Wilson’s article here.
Productivity Rules April 20, 2011
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in lean, workforce.Tags: lean, workforce
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Bill Waddell, writing over at Evolving Excellence, writes about how some mistake lean as being committed only to people, and not concerned with labor costs. But lean is indeed concerned with labor costs as well. The big difference between lean and traditional companies is that lean companies spend time trying to fix the 40-50% of labor that isn’t producing value, while traditional companies spend time on labor already producing some value. Mr. Waddell presents a chart to illustrate his point about labor value.
Check out his thoughtful and informative post here.
