Got Boondoggle?

Originally, I was not going to post about this issue but the more I thought about it, the more we can learn from it. The issue deals with la...

What is our standard? What is our current? What is our gap? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? What is our current state? What is our future state? Ho...

It’s just around the corner, in a couple of weeks the “Journey to Greatness” begins. The AME Kentucky 2009 Conference runs from October 19 ...

I have just finished reading the newly published book from the Lean Enterprise Institute, The Lean Manager , written by Michael Balle and Fr...

It was announced today that our Manchester, Tennessee facility has been awarded the “2009 Plant of the Year” by ASSEMBLY magazine and The B...

Check out the link for a cool blog site, Unclutterer , dedicated to getting and staying organized. Plenty of information for both work and a...

Most companies want to get results fast. There is a strong push to get results quickly or more importantly to impact the bottom line immedia...

What is the main purpose of lean tools? What is the main purpose of 5S, Kanban, Visual Management, Glass Walls, hour-by-hour charts, Pareto ...

Last week, I learned a new acronym for remembering the 7 deadly wastes of manufacturing, WORMPIT. It certainly provides a more vivid image o...

1. The flow of patients 2. The flow of clinicians 3. The flow of medications 4. The flow of supplies 5. The fl...

“All problems can be solved by looking at and understanding the 7 flows.” Chihiro Nakao In the book, Lean Thinking, authors James Womack and...

During our summer family vacation to the Grand Canyon last month, we took the opportunity to see Meteor Crater about 35 miles (56 kilometers...

“Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.” John Wayne There are many traits we add to our leadership list to help us on our...

While recently visiting the Toyota Georgetown plant, I learned that there are only two primary job demands on all Toyota Team Members: 1) ...

During a recent kaizen event at our Chihuahua, Mexico plant, the team observed one of our interior associates repeatedly walking back and fo...

One thing that is pretty noticeable when touring any of the major automotive assembly plants (GM, Ford, Toyota, Nissan or Honda) is the lack...

Like probably most of you, we have pets at home. In our case with the benefit of living in a rural Indiana area, we have several pets both i...

Earlier this month, I had my first opportunity to tour the newly operational Honda plant in Greensburg, Indiana referred as HMIN. After rece...

After several kaizen weeks in June, I took my family on a trip out west to explore the Grand Canyon. It was amazing to stand on the edge of ...

Simplicity has been one of the important characteristics in my life in the last few years, both professionally and personally. It is actuall...