Kaizen Song: We Demand Visual Controls

By Jon Miller Published on August 22nd, 2007

We Demand Visual Controls
(to the music of David Bowie’s “The Man Who Sold the World”)
A fax was on my desk, it spoke of promises
“My order isn’t there, hey when was it sent?”
Which came as some surprise, logged in and saw the line
“We thought it shipped a long, a long, long time ago.”
Ohno, taught me
To run a Lean shop floor
You have to say
“We demand visual controls”
I sighed and shook my head, I picked up the phone
I heard the words they said, “Now our line is down.”
I gazed at the late fees, at all the millions there
“I’m sure it must have shipped, a long, long time ago.”
Ohno, taught me
To run a Lean shop floor
You have to say
“We demand visual controls”

Jon Miller

Jon has dedicated his 25+ year career to the field of kaizen, continuous improvement, and lean management. Jon spent the first eighteen years of his life in Japan, then graduated from McGill University with a bachelor’s in linguistics.

Alberto
August 23, 2007 - 2:47 pm
Reply

This is great, I really loved the “Ohno” adaptation. congratulations.
Maybe I’ll try to make one in my language (Spanish).
Jon
August 23, 2007 - 4:11 pm
Reply

Thanks. This one was fun to do.
Regina Costa
August 24, 2007 - 9:29 am
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I always thought that music and production lines had a lot in common, and you hit the point!
I’m a consultant and I work with music on all the time, as it structures the thought and it is the best way to create new solutions for my clients!