Kaizen: Do What You Can Do Today
July 1, 2008
Some of the best kaizen ideas can be truly very little things. It is the accumulation of small changes daily that give us the habit of coming up with creative ideas. If you don't have on in your mind already, within the next few minutes you will have... Read more...
Ambiguous Visual Controls: No Running in the Airplane
June 30, 2008
The more you look the more you see ambiguous visual controls. Some are well-intentioned, while others appear to be half-hearted attempts to comply with some bureaucratic requirements. Others hint at hidden efficiencies or inefficiencies resulting in questionable... Read more...
Jedi Kaizen: Is the Force with You?
June 28, 2008
The type of quick improvements or "just do it kaizen" is sometimes called JDI. Recently I heard it pronounced "jedi kaizen" in passing. The jedi are a group of monks in the Star Wars series. As monks, they live simple lives and work to do good. Perhaps... Read more...
Genjitsu: The Only Reality
June 24, 2008
There are those moments when the right words come together in an a way that resonates deeply and inspires one to write them down and repeat them to others. The words by themselves are not profound, and one suspects that even rearranged slightly they would... Read more...
Continuous Improvement vs. Continual Improvement
June 9, 2008
Most organizations implementing lean principles today do not in fact practice "continuous improvement". What they practice would be better termed "continual improvement". The distinction between continual improvement and continuous improvement is a fine... Read more...
Ambiguous Visual Controls: It Is OK to Rest Against Window
June 3, 2008
Part of the ethos of a lean organization is the constantly improve by exposing problems and then systematically solving these problem. Visual controls make problems visible by providing norms you can see. The best visual controls are simple, unambiguous... Read more...
Why I Love $7.41 per Gallon Gasoline
June 1, 2008
That's what I paid recently to fill up the tank of a rental car in Europe. I look forward to the day when we will have $8 per gallon gasoline in the U.S.A. Howls of protest from people who are struggling with the rise of prices on basic goods aside, in... Read more...
Definitely Not the Pull System: Anderson Cooper 360
May 26, 2008
Not exactly breaking news, but highly amusing: video link How many wastes can you spot in this video? What are the causes of these wastes? How would you redesign this system? Despite the "push", is this system better or worse than rush hour in your... Read more...
Toyota’s Secret to Kaizen Success: Unpaid OT?
May 24, 2008
There was an interesting development at Toyota last week. Articles reported titles such as Toyota to raise overtime pay for 'voluntary' work. Titles included terms of interest, not often combined: kaizen, voluntary, overwork and death. In a puzzling... Read more...
A Plug for The Illustrated Toyota Production System
May 19, 2008
We are nearing the final edits, layout and design work for Japanese consultant Ritsushi Tsukuda's book The Illustrated Toyota Production System. It was quite a popular item in Japan so we are happy to bring this to readers in English. To give you an idea... Read more...
