May 2007 | Page 2 of 6 | Gemba Academy

Let’s Stumble

By Ron Pereira - May 28th, 2007

I was recently introduced to the website StumbleUpon. I didn’t give it much thought until this past Thursday evening. Me and my blogging pals sometimes share tips via email. So last Thursday I was exchanging emails with Mar

Kaizen of the Month for May 2007: Windows Hack or Chopping Away at the Six Big Losses

By Jon Miller - May 27th, 2007

Improving OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) by eliminating the six big losses is the focus of TPM (Total Productive Maintenance). Just as most industrial machinery is only 13% to 40% effective prior to TPM implementation, the same

Robots

By Ron Pereira - May 26th, 2007

Engineers at Cornell University have designed this odd-looking machine that can rebuild itself and also could perform repairs on itself.

Free TPS Video

By Ron Pereira - May 26th, 2007

Click here to watch a free video of Dr. Shankar Basu, president and CEO of Toyota Material Handling, USA. This is NOT a sales pitch so don’t worry. Dr. Basu even speaks about reducing transportation, which he half jokes will

Habituation , Sensitization and Being Yelled At By Taiichi Ohno

By Jon Miller - May 25th, 2007

Neuroplasticitiy is the ability of the human brain to rearrange its synaptic networks based on experience. This primarily affects the hippocampus, the region of the brain playing a key role in memory. In turn, memory affects behavior.

DOE use in the health care industry

By Ron Pereira - May 25th, 2007

We hear a lot about Lean in the health care world but not so much about Six Sigma. This fact made this story about how Design of Experiments is being used to make things better all the more intriguing to me. We read: According to S

I Plead Guilty

By Ron Pereira - May 25th, 2007

My friend Mark Graban of Lean Blog fame nailed me today… and I deserved it. Mark commented on my recent post about Lowes missing their numbers. I was actually as guilty as the folks at Qualpro in how I was trying to assign caus

How Does Lean Thinking Apply to Strategy?

By Jon Miller - May 24th, 2007

How does Lean thinking apply to strategy? This was a good question that made me think. One way of answering this question might refer to hoshin kanri (policy deployment) but in fact this is more about policy than strategy. If hoshin ka

Lowes Misses the Mark

By Ron Pereira - May 23rd, 2007

A few months ago I blogged about how a company called Qualpro was (and is) claiming its MVT methodology was far superior to Six Sigma. One of their success stories was Lowes. Their angle was that since Home Depot is a “Six

Medicare May Stop Paying for Hospital Errors

By Jon Miller - May 23rd, 2007

Medicare may stop paying for hospital errors in 2008, according to a May 22, 2007 article from IndyStar.com titled Hospital-borne ailments face Medicare budget ax. According to the article: Medical mistakes are deadly and expensive. In

Month: May 2007