Category: Articles
The Skinny on Lean Management
Reprinted with permission. Lean management doesn’t resonate in marketing and sales. Nor does it among boards, senior executives and investors. Reasons relate to where lean tends to do most of its work – in operations – and its usual presentation as an attack on waste. Obscured are its much greater potential in the distribution pipelines [...]
Toyota Kyushu – The Manufacturing Ballet
Note: Links to all of four Japan factory tour posts and the various lessons from those tours can be found here. I thought I understood lean pretty well. I was wrong. There is still so very much to learn. On Monday I visited Toyota’s Kyushu operations as part of Gemba’s Japan Kaikaku Experience. The complex has the [...]
Proof of Process as Leading Indicators
Article By : Cash Powell Posted By: Kevin Meyer In his book “Selecting the Right Manufacturing Improvement Tools”, Ron Moore introduces the idea that many of the traditional measurements in use by companies measure business activity after the fact. He calls them “lagging indicators” such as unit cost of production, return on net assets [...]
Perseverance Will Pay Off
By : John M. Rubio and George Koenigsaecker Companies that have made a real commitment to lean have the tools and systems to survive and prosper in a down economy. Is your organization equipped to respond and take action as soon as your leading indicators start to turn? Gasoline is over $4 per gallon in [...]
Attention: We Can Stop Making The Same Mistake Now
Having now recognized the importance of the “Respect for People” principle in Lean management, the Lean community is now more focused than ever on trying to change senior managers’ behaviors. However, efforts to change their behaviors in support of new, progressive management practices has, for several decades, largely fallen flat. Knowing this fact should motivate [...]
A Great Trip to Japan
This past April, I led an Institute for Lean Systems study mission to Japan. In the past, when I owned Productivity Inc. Press, I lead probably 30 similar study missions to Japan, all great, but none had been better then this one. In setting up these trips, I am never sure exactly what will be [...]
Dark Days for Lean Management
When do top executives adopt Lean management? Usually, it’s when times are tough. Why do top executives adopt Lean management? To reduce costs, improve profitability, and increase the stock price. This reasoning is totally incorrect and contributes to the many failed Lean transformations that we have witnessed over the last 30 years. So when should [...]
Lean Problem Solving and Continuous Improvement of Accounting Processes
Article By : The BMA Inc. Team Posted By: Kevin Meyer This article is the second in a series about lean accounting methods. The series will be based on the newest book, published in October 2007, The Lean Business Management System; Lean Accounting Principles & Practices Toolkit. In our practice at BMA Inc., when we [...]
How to Apply Lean Principles
I have been reading a new book by Jeffrey K. Liker and Michael Hoseus Toyota Culture. It is excellent and worthy of your read but even though the information is great, how do you apply it in your company? What is the process to internalizing knowledge and applying it effectively on the job? This has been [...]
Lean Quality Documentation Systems
Reprinted with permission of InsideQuality. How did your quality system get so complex and redundant? Many companies established their quality systems after having purchased a software program with a “canned” quality manual and procedures. Software companies try to subliminally sell you the concept “more is better.” Purchasing companies often don’t realize they also purchase a [...]
