A manager who wishes to communicate effectively must receive and impart reliable and honest input by observing, questioning, and opening up productive two-way dialogue.

Perhaps I am overendowed with self-confidence; or perhaps nothing more than plain old hubris. Then again, maybe some things are just as obvious as they seem to me. Take 5S, for instance. Really? There’s a place for everything and everything in its place.

Sure, the Italians have better food, the English richer royal culture and accents, and French women don’t get fat, but we in America regulate medical devices better, don’t we? Not so fast, says the European Union.

Located in Victor, New York, Surmotech is a full-service electronics contract manufacturer.

Long ago, W. Edwards Deming warned us about the use of what he called “arbitrary numerical goals.” Targets are another name for these. They are so commonplace that governments, service, and manufacturing organizations all use them.

When the data come along one value at a time, we tend to put them on a chart for individual values (an XmR chart).

Editor’s note: This is the third of a four-part video interview with Juran Institute’s CEO, Joseph DeFeo, and hosted by Quality Digest’s CEO, Jeff Dewar.

What customers value most changes constantly, and the pace of change has increased exponentially with the economic recession.

Innovations in software and technology are creating increasingly complex systems: cars that park themselves; medical devices that automatically deliver drugs; and smartphones with the computing power of desktop computers, to name a few.

OK, so there’s nothing about this video that isn’t cute. And that’s fine. But what does it have to do with lean? One of the most important lessons that lean can teach us is how to appreciate variation and make the most of it.