Got Boondoggle?

From my last post on the power of point lessons, the results from our spaghetti diagram training are in. After a short 15 minute lesson fol...

As a Lean Sensei, I try to live up to the standards set by my Japanese Lean Sensei as I teach the way of lean. Although I readily will testi...

Although the concept of My CI is quite simple and straightforward, it is similar to many of the other elements of a lean way where the conce...

Within the first few months at Batesville Casket, I quickly noticed a significant weakness in our lean approach. This weakness is very commo...

As you may have noticed, my posts over the last 20 days have been as non-existent as a passionate Hillary supporter at an Obama fundraiser i...

The preamble of the Constitution of the United States of America begins with one of the most powerful principles of our country, We the Peop...

"Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better." Samuel Beckett. Irish author, poet, Nobel Prize in Lite...

When we first embarked on the continuous improvement path, we called it JIT (Just in Time). As the term lean became popular with the book L...

Inventory has a purpose, it's to hide problems.

Here is a short 9 minute 18 second promo video on the 2008 AME Conference in Toronto. I have the honor and privilege of presenting at this ...

Are you in the air business? I’m not referring to filling up tires, the airline industry, the medical gas industry or Michael Jordan Shoes. ...

It appears that 2008 is going to be a tough financial year for many companies due to economic woes, housing bubble busts, rising prices (oil...

As I stated in my last post on the barriers that block kaizen, get past them and find a way to kaizen. But sometimes, despite all our effort...

Daily circumstances encountered on our lean journey certainly make it a challenge to constantly pursue kaizen. It takes energy, skill, coura...

This week I attended Noria Corporation’s Lean, Reliable & Lubed 2008 Conference in beautiful downtown Nashville, Tennessee. My hat’s off...

The great Greek mathematician and engineer, Archimedes (c. 287 BC – c. 212 BC) once remarked on his work with levers, provided he had a leve...

During our fantastic kaizen event in sunny Chihuahua, Mexico last week, I was reminded of a common phenomenon still found in the workplace t...

You might be thinking that I have lost my kaizen mind by the title of this post. How can value stream maps be muda (waste)? Simple, if you...

Today is Earth Day 2008. Maybe it’s only me but it seems that this year it’s gotten substantially more press coverage than in Earth Days pa...

In almost 100% of all business improvement books, the topic of communication is always considered a key factor to success. I am sure that ma...