I am an avid Chicago fan, despite having left the area over twenty years ago. I still watch the teams whenever I can, and follow them religiously on the web. So, this year has been a huge letdown. The Bears were riding high when their star quarterback, Jay Cutler, was injured. Saying they limped to the end of the season would be generous. They dropped five straight games after that. The Blackhawks were playing solid Read more…
Kaizen kits are packages of tools and supplies that support continuous improvement activities. The purpose of the kit is to streamline the kaizen process by having necessary tools and supplies gathered in advance. The kit has another benefit. It can inspire creativity. When you put materials in front of people, they don’t have to think about the logistics of solving a problem. They can focus on the problem itself. This benefit is amplified when you Read more…
Success comes in many different forms. However you define it, though, the formula remains the same. It starts with potential. Think of potential like the energy stored in something. A wound up spring and a gallon of gas both hold potential energy. A person is the same. Everyone has potential that they can tap to get what they want out of life. Fortunately, people are not constrained by the laws of physics the way materials Read more…
Job descriptions exist for nearly every position in nearly every company. They outline the overview of the job, responsibilities, work activities. They should also list job requirements, and clearly spell out which are mandatory, and which are “like-to-haves”. Job descriptions are most commonly used for recruiting purposes or during annual reviews. In a Lean company, job descriptions should also include a listing of continuous improvement tasks the person will be required to do. Many people Read more…
Yesterday morning I had to go into the DMV (Department of Licensing here in Washington State) to renew my driver’s license. As I walked into the waiting room and saw the hundred and fifty or two hundred poor souls already lost in purgatory ahead of me, it reminded me of something that had happened years before. Back when I worked for Genie Industries, I had to renew my license. As I was sitting in the Read more…
In continuous improvement, you often have to go out and collect information from people. Sometimes it is from observations. Often, though, you will be speaking directly to people doing the process, and you will be asking them questions. Keep in mind one important distinction. Interviews generally seek answers. Interrogations seek confessions. Don’t go into an interview with the intention of figuring out who is at fault for a problem. When going to talk to people Read more…
A hidden factory is the set of undocumented and unstaffed processes that are done in an organization. When you dive into a process, you will often find two methods of doing it. The first is the documented method, or the one described by the operator as what he or she does. This is often the method that is used for timing, and ultimately for planning the staffing and capacity of an operation. Then there is Read more…
A gemba walk is a leadership process in which a manager walks through his or her areas of responsibility in order to gain a better understanding of how the operation is running. The term “gemba” means “the real place” in Japanese. The level of structure of a gemba walk varies by the individual. They range from a simple walkthrough on up to a formal checklist containing specific things to look for. Gemba walks should be Read more…
“Form, fit, and function” are most commonly discussed in relation to the design of an object, or when considering if a process is value added or not. Form: Form is the physical characteristics of the product. It includes things like shape, weight, color, material, etc. Fit: Fit is short for “fits intended application”. Alternatively, it may also reference whether the physical dimensions of a part fit into the product it was designed to go into. Read more…
Economy of scale means that an organization is structured in such a way that as production volumes rise, per unit costs fall. In effect, this is a fancy of way to say “bigger is better”. It is based on the idea that a product has two basic components to its cost, fixed and variable. Fixed costs stay constant as production fluctuates, and variable costs shift as production changes. The cost of a building, for example, Read more…
When using drawers to store equipment, one expression stands out: Out of sight, out of mind. Things in a drawer tend to get piled up, misplaced, and forgotten about. Drawers take time to open and close, and slow down processes. They hide things. Bottom line: Drawers are fine for storage, but they hinder 5S and flow in a production environment. Most items in drawers at a work station should be put at the point of Read more…
“Catalog engineer” is a derisive term used to describe someone with a lack of creativity when it comes to process improvement. The term describes those who immediately attempt to purchase an existing solution to a problem rather than try to figure out a method in-house. Process improvement will, of course, require materials and equipment as part of a solution. Buying off-the-shelf items, though, should be a last resort. Start off continuous improvement efforts by coming Read more…