April 2008 | Gemba Academy

Endless Meetings Speed Up the Pace of Change on the Gemba

By Jon Miller - April 30th, 2008

An article in the May 1, 2008 issue of Nikkei Business titled Endless Meetings Speed Up the Pace of Change on the Gemba (ダラダラ会議が現場のスピードアップを生む) interviewed the chairman and profiled a Japanese com

Life is like a bowl of oranges

By Ron Pereira - April 29th, 2008

As I mentioned towards the end of our most recent video the demonstration with the oranges, pebbles, sand, and water can be used to explain a far more important life lesson. Before this, please allow me to thank you for your comments a

Lean Strategies for Workforce Development in Manufacturing

By Jon Miller - April 27th, 2008

A while back, I attended a meeting of CAMPS, the Center for Advanced Manufacturing in Puget Sound. Like many consortia around the U.S. and in other countries, a group of manufacturers, local government, academia, and service providers

Boeing Volunteers Helping Non-profits with Lean

By Jon Miller - April 23rd, 2008

An article in the April 18-12, 2008 issue of the Puget Sound Business Journal caught our eye. Titled Penguins will benefit from jet maker’s efficiency lessons it describes the efforts of Boeing employees as lean trainers who have

Takt Time Competition at Gemba Panta Rei

By Ron Pereira - April 22nd, 2008

I recently wrote a guest blog over on Gemba Panta Rei where I set up a hypothetical takt time question. Jon Miller has been nice enough to offer up some sweet prizes for those who leave meaningful comments before May 1, 2008. So, if y

You Can’t Steal What is Shared Freely

By Jon Miller - April 22nd, 2008

Whoever got people started using the phrase “steal shamelessly” in regards to lean ideas and practices should be ashamed. I am quietly offended when people say this to me because it shows a certain lack of respect for the a

Tips for Dealing with Conflict

By Ron Pereira - April 21st, 2008

Our ability, as business leaders, to manage conflict can’t be overstated. If you’ve never dealt with conflict in a professional environment…well, you live a blessed life. Most of us, however, have almost certainly facilitated a m

The Crow and the Pitcher

By Ron Pereira - April 20th, 2008

Here’s a neat story credited to Aesop. It’s found in the 2nd century AD Greek fable collection by pseudo-Dositheus. That sets the scene far more eloquently than me explaining how I came across the story in one of my kidR

Built-In Quality Means Having Your Cake But Not Eating It

By Jon Miller - April 20th, 2008

There was an interesting bit of news from the BBC about a Honda factory in Swindon, England. Apparently the management there have placed restrictions on the sorts of cakes, fruit and chocolates the workers can eat in their break rooms.

Guest Post: Takt Time Competition

By Jon Miller - April 16th, 2008

By: Ron Pereira, LSS Academy Jon has blogged about takt time many times before. Most recently he offered a free Excel based takt time calculator. The tricky part about calculating takt time is normally associated with what to use for t

Month: April 2008