February 2007 | Page 2 of 4

The New Savior of the Free World – MVT

By Ron - February 22nd, 2007

Matt, a reader of this blog, sent me this article tonight and while I was not going to comment until I studied this more I decided what the heck… tap dancing makes for boring blogs. I’m letting it fly!A company that calls itself Qu

Value Stream Mapping Confusion

By Ron - February 21st, 2007

When drawing value stream maps there can be confusion regarding the different “times” that are measured and, in some cases, calculated. I recently came up against this myself and thus want to share some tips with you all. Cycle Tim

Lean Six Sigma is Not Lean

By Jon Miller - February 21st, 2007

Lean Six Sigma is not Lean. It is Six Sigma, but one that is more “Lean” than just regular “Six Sigma.” In the English language the adjective (Lean) modifies the noun or subject word (Six Sigma). So Lean Six Sig

Japanese Words

By Ron - February 20th, 2007

Over the years I have heard American and European employees from many companies grumble when hearing Japanese words. This is most apparent during Lean training. Personally, I feel it is extremely important to use the Japanese names for

My “Sensei” Wife

By Ron - February 20th, 2007

My wife is the best. As I have to travel some for my work she takes care of the house, kids, dogs, and pretty much anything else you can imagine without me around to yell at… I mean without me to help, of course.Well, in an attempt t

Let’s Establish a Waste and Efficiency Tip Line… and then Another One

By Jon Miller - February 20th, 2007

I caught a rerun of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart last night on television. The bit of news involved the $22 billion in cash lost in Iraq during Paul Bremer’s time there. Both political parties want to be seen as addressing thi

Bollinger Bands

By Ron - February 19th, 2007

I am not an active trader of stocks or options although I do enjoy reading and studying the methods people use to “time” the markets so to speak. I will confess I have tried to time the markets myself but have gotten whacked more t

Getting the CEO on a Kaizen Team is Like Pulling Teeth

By Jon Miller - February 19th, 2007

As I was flipping through my copy of the February 2007 issue of Dental Economics today, an interview with two Danaher executives caught my eye. Danaher is known as a leading American company who has quietly and profitably grown through

NASCAR Fans React!

By Ron - February 18th, 2007

I’m not a NASCAR fan nor foe. I could really care less about the sport but this article bothered me. It seems two popular drivers, Darrel Waltrip and Dale Jarrett, have decided to drive Toyota cars and many NASCAR faithful are bother

The Trouble with Exploring “all options” at Chrysler

By Jon Miller - February 18th, 2007

Chrysler is feeling the squeeze. Third quarter losses were twice as large as projected. The DaimlerChrysler leadership are using their wits in an ongoing effort to turn things around. Chief Executive Dieter Zetsche has stated that R

Month: February 2007