April 2008 | Page 2 of 3

The Efficiency Conundrum

By Ron Pereira - April 15th, 2008

Ah yes, efficiency. If there was ever a word more abused I’d like to know about it. I don’t think there is. OK, maybe utilization. But efficiency is really butchered. So let’s dig into the efficiency conundrum a bit this evening

Henry Ford Learned from Sears & Roebuck?

By Jon Miller - April 15th, 2008

I am reading a fascinating book called The Company: A Short History of a Revolutionary Idea by John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge. It traces the origin and development of the joint-stock company through the modern corporation and

A Lean Enterprise Transformation is Like a Marathon

By Jon Miller - April 13th, 2008

A lean enterprise transformation is like a marathon. Success depends on daily conditioning. It’s unlike a marathon in that it’s not a race with a goal at the end of 26 miles. Perhaps it’s more accurate to say being a

The Old Navy from Hell

By Ron Pereira - April 10th, 2008

My blogging goes in spurts. I seem to get on a “theme” and roll with that for a few posts. Well, regular readers of LSS Academy have likely sensed I have been on a “take action/5S” rant as of late. Well,

Well Do Something!

By Ron Pereira - April 9th, 2008

“If you come to a fork in the road, take it.” -Yogi Berra A True Story Several years ago I was riding in the car with my Grandma and Grandpa. We were driving to the store if I remember correctly. Along the way my Grandpa pulled

How Many Times Do You Pull the Andon Cord Each Day?

By Jon Miller - April 8th, 2008

A reader commented recently on the article about the ten reasons one piece flow will not work saying “The answer to one and two is “watch production stop!?” If this is your plan to make/save money and work as a team,

Another Way of Learning to See

By Jon Miller - April 7th, 2008

What do you do when you just can’t take people to the gemba as part of your lean training? For example if you are conducting training in a hotel, a university class room or a faraway executive suite, how do you build direct obser

Fix the Broken Windows

By Ron Pereira - April 7th, 2008

What do fixing broken windows and continuous improvement have in common? I contend a lot. Read on and let me know if you agree. The so-called broken window theory comes to us by way of the criminology world. Broken Windows The theo

The Secret of TPS

By Jon Miller - April 6th, 2008

The Toyota Production System (TPS) is widely recognized as a cornerstone of Lean manufacturing. It’s characterized by just in time production and judoka, delivering precisely what customers want when they want it. Toyota’s

Don’t Step on the Tape!

By Ron Pereira - April 3rd, 2008

I recently worked on an amazing kaizen team. On the first day of the event, I was asked to say a few words. Since one of our main focus areas for the week was 5S, I decided to tell this group about my recent trip to Japan. Specifically

Month: April 2008