Section » Lean Manufacturing
Money from honey: Africa lean project generates results
I recently wrote about my trip in August to Zambia in Africa. I was visiting with my friends John and Kendra who have been working in Zambia for the past 10 years and in Congo the previous 25 years. Their work is centered on setting up indigenous economic development to give Zambians a sustainable livelihood coupled with Christian principles and values. Well,
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Where do you want your CI initiative to go in 2010?
In the ever-changing world of continuous improvement (CI), we must always remember to walk our own walk. If we, as CI leaders, are teaching and coaching people in the PDCA (Plan, Do, Check, Act) process, we too must ensure that we are leading by example. We must not vary our process from this cycle of
Bringing the message of lean to Africa
I just returned from a trip to the country of Zambia in Africa. I was there visiting and helping some close family friends that are missionaries. John and Kendra are not typical missionaries. While they do have a very nice training center which is used for a Christian pastor school, family activities
Lean evolves: How to make the most of process improvement
Lean efforts used to be 100 percent directed at the shop floor. What we have seen recently is that lean is moving into non-traditional areas of business. A lot of our recent work has been in: maintenance, procurement, distribution, engineering, the office and even the company kitchen! A friend of mine
How to accomplish a lean turnaround at warp speed
How can I accelerate a turnaround, or for that matter any implementation? I can’t wait; I have to do it NOW! The first item on your list is to stop running on overload. Remember, it’s not a matter of time but a matter of priorities. Define your goals and needs correctly, create realistic
The 10 components of an effective lean operation
In my opinion and experience, there are 10 components or definitions for an “effective” lean operation. These include: Safety is not a slogan. It is acted upon and driven similar to quality and other key metrics. Productivity is improving 10 percent or more per year, quality metrics are
Has there ever been a better time for Lean Six Sigma?
General Motors just stopped the Toyota NUMMI joint venture after 25 years. From all that I have heard, it was a very good experience and that GM learned a lot more from the JV than Toyota did. But, Toyota got additional capacity in the United States to (guess what?) … grow! Now is the time for
If at first you succeed … try, try again
Training Within Industry (TWI) is a micro version of “creative destruction”, a term used by some economists to describe a free-market capitalistic economy. Creative destruction means that new businesses, services or products enter and create the new markets, while destroying existing ones
Hunker down or crush your competition
With the current economic environment, there is always the tendency to hunker down and try to ride the storm out. But, is that the best strategy? Probably not. While there is most certainly a need to watch budgets closely - even very closely - and tighten up on extra activity, now is the time to take
Start the lean journey by planning the trip
When I have occasion to speak with people about lean (which is only every chance I get), I am often asked - where should we start? While this sounds like a very simple question, it actually requires a lot of thought. However, the simple answer is that you must first decide where you want to go before
Lean thinking … to go!
As I’ve gotten older, I have tried to curtail my consumption of fast food. I know that the fat content, calorie counts and general nutrition levels are not the healthiest available. I know that as we age, we should watch our cholesterol, our weight and make sure that we eat healthy. I also know
