Archive for the 'asides' Category

Good friend Michael Port offers a business-building tip: Get Started Developing the Promising Habit.

Begin taking delay out of your projects, Use Rough Numbers to Begin Improving Actions. Start with the Last Planner System®.

Then conduct stand-up meetings, How to Conduct Your Meetings. Research shows decisions are no less effective but the meeting goes much faster.

Project leadership can be the make-or-break factor for project success. The 6σ folk have some good advice for anyone with a leadership role. "(T)he high failure rate of many promising leaders is largely due to an over-reliance on a limited set of capabilities." Six Sigma Leadership.

I advise clients to start their lean initiatives with 5S to make visible the movement through production steps and to identify opportunities for improvement (OFIs). Mark Graban writes, Why Clean Your Desk? Is This 5S? He asks the question should we do 5S for 5S sake? He answers, "No." His readers share a different perspective.

Toyota has recently adopted proprietary software for their operations, What’s Driving Toyota? as reported by Baseline. Apparently, they aren't the only ones. Lean Insider reports the lean IT business is picking up for Plexus Online who sells Scanban and other lean software. I wonder what Toyota is doing to support their projects?

I often gush over Toyota's lean design and manufacturing. BW writes Even Toyota Isn't Perfect calling attention to the increase in quality recalls in Japan and US. But read closely. Toyota saw this as a crisis and has just about turned it around.

Mary Poppendieck offers a nice summary of Matthew Mays' book on Toyota's approach to innovation and competitiveness, How does Toyota Do It? Have a look.

It's not easy being lean if you can't manage the change project. "I don’t see organizations having a structured way to manage the daily activities of their change process and waste elimination. I don’t see organizations having a way to monitor and measure the influence or impact of their projects," Michael Kuta, in an iterview for Lean Deployment is Coming Into Its Own.

Readers of this weblog are somewhat unusual…they read. But what might a small change in reading make? Embrace the kaizen way. Make a Small Change: Read a Few More Pages.

Who is Rover? In the 1960s they were one of the leading automotive manufacturers in the world. After a few bankruptcies they're now an also-ran. In You Are Better than Toyota, J P Spencer suggests that all firms need a burning platform to stay competitive.

kaizen is practiced across industries. Project kaizen can — maybe will — result in higher safety. Batesville Casket is enjoying imrpoved safety from their kaizen efforts, If kaizen Works for a Casket Manufacturer What Might it Do for You? Maybe your project will too.

Learning about lean? Panta Rei suggests these Top 5 Lean Manufacturing Books for Beginners. My favorite on their list is Henry Ford's Today and Tomorrow.

Seth Godin, How many bloggers does it take to screw in a lightbulb?, and others are hyping CFLs to save the planet and save each of us some cash. It's a great example of a Quick 'n Easy Kaizen: Make One Small Change: Use More CFLs.

"Too many companies treat employees as an expense, not an asset." <homer> Doh! </homer> The authors of The New American Workplace suggest it's time that it can and should be different.

Lean Insider posts a provocative piece on the difference in perspective between Toyota and other automotive firms, The Lack of Lean Partnerships. In essence, Toyota understands that partners need to be profitable. The others care only for their own profits.

Respect for people is a cornerstone of lean thinking and the Toyota Way. Some are predicting it will go mainstream in the coming year. Respect for People Predicted to be a Leadership Theme for 2007 Let's hope they're right!

Mark Graban just posted the Lean Blog Carnival for December. It was a very busy month for leanies. Happy New Year!

At the Six Sigma Blog they look at the 99% world to show The Significance of Six Sigma. At 99% 50 babies would be dropped in hospitals each day.

This Classic photo comes to you via Seth Godin. If only people would be responsble.

It's a great series on PDCA. Parts: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]