Content by Bruce Hamilton
Superficial Resolutions Many organizations <em>think</em> they are making improvements when they are actually just automating waste
Tue, 01/08/2013 - 09:31
As we begin another new year, here’s a post about resolutions. In most organizations there are plans for something new in 2013—maybe a new product or market, or a new machine or facility. For those of us in the lean world, new also means re-new, i.e…Too Happy, Too SoonDon't be mesmerized by early results
Fri, 12/21/2012 - 10:47
Our machine shop was assisted by Toyota Supplier Support Center (now called Toyota Production System Support Center) in 1996 to reduce setups on our CNC lathes. TSSC had already helped us in a downstream final assembly department, and now we were…Accidental RevolutionThe payback can be huge when you invest in people, not just machines
Tue, 11/27/2012 - 09:35
Last week I visited with JVS, a terrific Boston-area organization whose mission is “to empower individuals from diverse communities to find employment and build careers, and to partner with employers to hire, develop, and retain productive…A Salesman’s <em>Gemba</em>Are your salespeople a part of your continuous improvement effort?
Thu, 11/15/2012 - 11:07
Bob was an outside salesman in from the field for a sales meeting at the plant. We asked him to stop by to participate with a problem-solving team assigned to one of his customers, ABC Co. We’d tried everything, so we thought, to correct a defect in…A Better Class of PrisonerAlso known as early challengers of the status quo
Fri, 10/26/2012 - 10:46
I attended a very nice presentation recently by a person who has been leading the lean charge for several years at a major medical center. As he reflected on key elements of his organization’s success, however, he made a statement that set off my…Mental <em>Muri</em> MigraineInconsistencies are a part of everyone’s workday
Mon, 10/15/2012 - 11:33
It’s funny, but when a bunch of lean thinkers gets together, they tend to be on the lookout for small improvements. Cumulatively these little issues give us headaches, and regrettably sometimes have far more serious consequences. Call this mental…Lead With Humiliation‘It is unwise to be too sure of one’s own wisdom’
Mon, 10/08/2012 - 12:28
Very early in my lean adventure as a new vice president of operations, when the idea of listening to workers was still a little strange, I returned from a week vacation to find that two of my peer managers had teamed up to convince the company…Low-Value Idea or Shop-Floor Revolution?One simple fix can start an avalanche of improvements
Tue, 09/11/2012 - 14:38
Our Northeast Region Shingo Conference, held Sept. 25–26, 2012, is all about sharing information, ideas, problems, plans—all of those things that can make the sum of the parts greater than the whole. So a story about the power of sharing ideas seems…Casche Bay <em>Mura</em>Sometimes expecting employees to keep paddling is unrealisic in heavy seas
Wed, 08/22/2012 - 16:51
I went canoeing last week with my 13-year-old son, Ben, on the boundary lakes between Minnesota and Ontario. Away from phones, radios, and any other means to communicate with the outside world, we focused on the strenuous, but relaxing, journey…WIP ItWhen work is produced before it’s needed, it’s not really work but overproduction
Mon, 07/30/2012 - 14:31
Referred to either as “work in process” or “work in progress” (I think they’re the same thing), WIP is one of those manufacturing concepts that’s designed to confuse.
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