Luck is the combination of events and circumstances that randomly impact an outcome. The more one can control those inputs, the more likely the result is to be a desired one. In a trip to Las Vegas, an individual has little impact on the outcome of games of chance. Roulette wheels and slot machines and dice don’t care whether you rub your hands together, shout “No Whammies”, or blow on the dice. You have no Read more…
Workstations are exactly what they sound like. They are the locations where work is completed. In a non-Lean environment, workstations tend to be assigned to individuals, lack standardization, and often are very general in design. For example, a company may have a standard 6-foot-long workbench with a shelf above it that is used in a variety of work areas. Workstations in a Lean company vary significantly from those that are not focused on flow. In Read more…
Stopgaps are simply temporary measures put in place to prevent the defects from a known problem within a system, process, or product from escaping to a customer. This is in stark contrast to a countermeasure, in which a permanent solution is implemented. Stopgaps are intended to be temporary, but they should still be well defined. In fact, a stopgap should have an extra layer of scrutiny on it because of the fact that it is Read more…
You’ve received this email because you signed up or made a purchase at http://www.Velaction.com Maximize Your Lean Success Helping Companies AND Individuals Improve Dear %$firstname$%, In the spirit of continuous improvement, I regularly read Lean books and troll a variety of websites focused on making operations better. I often see comments that imply that if a company does not precisely follow Toyota’s methods, it is doing Lean wrong. I agree that Read more…
Somehow shadowboards have become the badge of Lean. A shadowboard symbolizes 5S to many. It is hard to find a class on Lean that does not show a shadowboard on a slide describing workplace organization. But I hate them. OK, hate is a little strong, and I don’t even dislike them everywhere. They are fine in tool rooms and maintenance shops. But in production areas, they represent waste, not efficiency. On the surface, they look Read more…
Over the last few days, I’ve got to experience both the good and the bad of the healthcare system in the US. You see, my daughter was a bit over-adventurous with her parkour in the playground and broke her ankle trying to leap from a ladder to a set of monkey bars. So, the bad first. It is a nightmare to get approval for specialists. You need to get referrals, authorizations, check with insurance, and Read more…
With the New Year coming soon, I’ve been thinking a lot about what the future has in store. I am anticipating some major changes for Lean. Some of these predictions are US focused, but most are internationally applicable. Lean will continue to grow. Hiring for Lean vs. Six Sigma is rising. (See my Gotta Go Lean blog article.) In the coming years, the people filling these roles will be spreading Lean concepts throughout their new Read more…
In the latest issue of Men’s Health magazine, there is a little blurb about MRSA resistant paint. In testing, all MRSA bacteria died after 20 minutes of exposure to the painted surface. A little further research found a more detailed article on the coating. The paint can actually be used on surgical equipment as well. The researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York expect a general commercial product to be available within a year, Read more…
I get occasional emails from my credit card processor for my online sales. The latest one had an interesting headline: Cyber Monday Drives Single-Day Transaction Record This headline refers to the ‘Pulse Index’, as Chase calls it. It is a measure of a sample of 50 of the largest 250 online retailers. While Chase can only monitor the transactions they process, it is good year-over-year assessment. From the Lean standpoint, the data behind this headline Read more…