March 2006 | Gemba Academy

TPS from the Horse’s Mouth: View the Videos & Take the Quiz!

By Jon Miller - March 30th, 2006

Toyota has recently updated its website area for explaining the Toyota Production System (TPS), which includes the thinking and origins behind TPS, such as kanban, just in time, and judoka. The website offers simple explanations using

You’ve Gotta Go to Gemba More Often Than That!

By Jon Miller - March 28th, 2006

True story. Not too long ago I was with another one of our consultants teaching Just in Time principles to a group of newly minted Lean facilitators at one of our client’s factories. During one of the breaks one of the engineers

Toyota Seeking Top Talent: Tightwads Only Need Apply

By Jon Miller - March 26th, 2006

There have been several articles over the last year pointing out the challenge Toyota is facing as they expand overseas to find good people. The Toyota’s Challenge: Growing the Talent points out that Toyota is growing faster than the

Gemba Keiei Chapter 16: Grandpa Sakichi’s Jidoka Idea

By Jon Miller - March 23rd, 2006

I really enjoyed this chapter for a couple of reasons. First, Ohno uses the old-fashioned honorific for “grandpa” or “old man” when referring to Sakichi Toyoda in the title. There’s a certain warmth there and a reminder that

5S Your Desk: And Other Tips for Office Productivity

By Jon Miller - March 21st, 2006

“I know where everything is.” How many times have you heard (or given) this rejoinder to “please 5S your desk“? It’s hard to argue the logic of “cluttered desk, cluttered mind” when a desk is a

The Problem of Excessive Executive Compensation for Lean Manufacturing

By Jon Miller - March 20th, 2006

A Wall Street Journal article today titled Snow Defends Presidents’ Handling of the Economy got me thinking again about the problem of excessive executive compensation for Lean manufacturing. The problem of excessive executive compen

Gemba Keiei Chapter 15: Just In Time

By Jon Miller - March 16th, 2006

In this chapter, Taiichi Ohno talks about “just in time” but does not focus much on the material and information flow within TPS. Instead, he spends most of his time contemplating the English phrase’s origin. The Orig

Herman Miller NT Furniture is NoT Lean

By Jon Miller - March 14th, 2006

At Gemba we advocate something called the “open office” both for ourselves and to support the Lean transaction efforts of our clients. The open office is exactly what it sounds like, a Lean office area with as few walls as possible

College Dean Concludes: Kaizen Best Learned by Doing

By Jon Miller - March 13th, 2006

E. Alan Hartman, Dean of the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh College of Business, has been rolling up his sleeves and doing gemba kaizen. He first wrote about his experience with kaizen at the Ariens Co. in the Appleton Post-Crescent i

The Link Between Gemba Kaizen and Human Resource Development

By Jon Miller - March 9th, 2006

Nidhi Shah recently posted a question on this blog “Is there a link between Gemba kaizen and HRD personnel in an organisation?” Thanks for your question Nidhi. Kaizen and Lean manufacturing can sometimes be seen as technica

Month: March 2006