As our product and service value chains expand globally, OEMs in various industries are outsourcing more of their products and services instead of keeping them in house.

Zero is a good number when it comes to sustainability. Zero emissions. Net-zero energy buildings. And of course, zero waste. Zero waste is radical. It’s attainable. It’s good business. And it’s cool.

There are entire books, thorough training, and certification processes all devoted to lean supply-chain practices. But within any manufacturing environment, there are a few relatively simple steps that will help any enterprise to make its supply chain more lean.

“What makes a personal kanban any better than a to-do list?” asked Julie, crossing out a completed task on her “ta da!” list with exaggerated strokes.

The recent earthquake in Japan and evolving nuclear plant disaster have forced firms to triage their supply chains, adopting an emergency-room approach to responding to the crisis.

You can’t pick up an article or turn on the news without running across the word “sustainability.” So, I got to thinking about what sustainability means on an individual level—not from a purely ecological perspective, but from a humanistic one.

One of the more improbable business changes of our times has been caused by a number of corporations such as Walmart, General Motors, IBM, and others who have taken on the direct responsibility for improving the environment by ensuring that “sustainability” is imple

Managing for quality is breaking new ground.

The 5 Whys is a well-known root cause analysis technique that originated at Toyota and has been adopted by many other organizations that have implemented lean manufacturing principles.

In my last article, I discussed sustainability in generic terms, focusing mostly on environmental issues.