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PDCA: Moving from the Plan (P) to the Do (D)
Hello, all you Lean Six Sigma people! I hope this blog finds you all doing fantastic! I have been working on a series talking about the PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) cycle as it relates to continuous improvement (CI). We have covered the planning cycle, and now it is time to do some real work after a short
Your CI list is long. Which projects should you pursue?
In my last blog entry, I talked very generally about the PDCA cycle (Plan, Do, Check, Act). In the first blog in this series, I wrote about how too many organizations get into the Do, Check, Act cycle without taking time to plan it out. We have covered the need to plan and the big picture process
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
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
