March 2008 | Gemba Academy

Hesitate and Die

By Ron Pereira - March 31st, 2008

One of my favorite movies is U-571 starring Matthew McConaughey. In the movie, a German submarine is boarded by disguised American submariners seeking to capture its Enigma cipher machine. Now in Charge Once the seasoned skipper di

Kaizen and the Way of the Ninja

By Jon Miller - March 31st, 2008

Taiichi Ohno was fond of saying “use the way of the ninja, not of mathematical calculations”. He had fun with language even as he left the people he scolded puzzled by his words. Perhaps in today’s language he might s

Dealing with Doubting Thomas

By Ron Pereira - March 30th, 2008

Today, Roman Catholics around the world read about Doubting Thomas. No matter what your personal belief system is, I think there is much to learn from this story, especially for those of us attempting to drive change in our organizati

One Piece Flow Envelope Stuffing Experiment

10 Benefits of One Piece Flow

By Ron Pereira - March 27th, 2008

There are at least ten reasons one piece flow won’t work. But, I prefer to look at things positively. You know, the glass is half full. With this said, here are 10 benefits of implementing one piece flow. Benefit 1: Improves safety R

What is Progress?

By Ron Pereira - March 26th, 2008

I was reading some quotes of G.K. Chesterton tonight and came across this one. “Progress should mean that we are always changing the world to fit the vision, instead we are always changing the vision.” – Orthodoxy, 19

A Response to the Video Skeptics

By Ron Pereira - March 24th, 2008

It’s safe to say the kinds words, comments, and emails for my one piece flow video have far exceeded my expectations. While most of the comments and feedback have been extremely positive there have been a few skeptics in the crow

A Few More Kaizen Ideas Involving Tennis Balls

By Jon Miller - March 23rd, 2008

The article 50 Great Things you Never Knew you Could do with Tennis Balls on the The Life Hackery website complies a list of dozens of creative things you can do with tennis balls. I carry a tennis ball in my computer bag as a stress r

LSS Academy Series Review – Six Sigma Edition

By Ron Pereira - March 23rd, 2008

First of all, Happy Easter! My family and I were in Oklahoma the last few days. As is very typical with me during road trips, I began to think about this blog. I am not sure if this is entirely healthy (me always thinking about t

Spring Fever – Fact or Fiction?

By Ron Pereira - March 20th, 2008

“It’s spring fever…. You don’t quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!” -Mark Twain Texas Sun Today marks the beginning of spring. Here in Texas, the sun is shi

101 Kaizen Templates: Workplace 5S Audit Sheet

By Jon Miller - March 19th, 2008

Why would the world need another Workplace 5S Audit Sheet? Well, kaizen never ends, that’s why. Although it does rest sometimes. On this 5S audit sheet, there are 10 questions, two in each of the five categories of 5S. You need

Month: March 2008