ISO is a non-governmental, international organization with a membership consisting of 165 national standards bodies. While it has no real authority over its members, it strives to (according to its website) “share knowledge and develop voluntary, consensus-based, market relevant International Standards that support innovation and provide solutions to global challenges.” Read more…
Fastcap is a small manufacturing company located just north of Bellingham, Washington. While the company itself develops and sells tools to support the woodworking industry, its real claim to Lean fame is that it is used as a vehicle for its founder, Paul Akers, to test and promote his Lean Read more…
AME is a non-profit organization based out of Rolling Meadows, Illinois. Created in 1985, it currently (2020) has 4,000 members. It offers training and other resources intended to create enterprise excellence, with Lean thinking specifically mentioned. https://www.ame.org/
Frederick Winslow Taylor (March 20, 1856 – March 21, 1915) is most well known for his work on time and motion studies and scientific management. While the facts and data aspect of his work is aligned with modern Lean, his theories of management diverged from Lean in one major way. Read more…
A production playbook is basically a set of alternative options depending upon predictable situations. The most common playbook entries cover operating in unusual staffing or demand situations. One set of plays might clarify what is done when 1, 2, or 3 people are absent, and another set of plays might Read more…
The standard work schedule week is five 8-hour days, totaling 40 hours. Some companies opt for a 4-10 workweek with an additional day off each week. There are several pros and cons to each schedule. To make the decision even more challenging, the pros and cons can flip for different Read more…
There are 6 big losses of OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness). 6 Big Losses Breakdowns Setup and Minor Adjustment Idling and Minor Stoppages Reduced Speed Defects and Rework Startup Loss Each of these losses saps a small portion of potential production you could be getting from your machines. Total productive maintenance Read more…
On our Kaizen Charter, we devote quite a bit of space at the top of the form to the problem statement. This should be a good indicator as to the importance we place on it. A good kaizen problem statement serves two main purposes. The first is that it creates Read more…
An important part of conducting a continuous improvement event is selecting a kaizen team that is strong and will get great results. The following factors all play a role. Scope Too few people for the scope of the project and you won’t finish. Too many and you’ll have a lot Read more…
There’s an old story about two lumberjacks who decided to have a contest to see who could chop the most wood. One was a young, energetic man who could chop relentlessly. He was convinced he would win easily against the older lumberjack who was on the back end of his Read more…
Processes are important for many reasons. They improve productivity. They make quality better. They improve predictability. They also help prevent chaos. Think about what happens when a driver chooses not to follow a process. We know that this can cause trouble if the violation is self-serving: speeding, running a red Read more…
Predictive maintenance is the practice of using data to try to anticipate and avoid machine failures. It differs from preventative maintenance in that it uses checks to identify abnormal conditions before the machine has a problem. Most failures in machines are not immediate, catastrophic failures. Electric motors might show changes Read more…