2008 | Page 11 of 11 | Gemba Academy

Building a Lean Supply Stream

By Ron Pereira - January 10th, 2008

If you happen to live in the Dallas/Fort Worth area or will be in town you may consider attending this conference. I plan to attend so let me know if you will be there so we can say hi! Apologize for sending this out late… bu

101 Kaizen Templates: Stand in the Circle

By Jon Miller - January 9th, 2008

The 60-minute kaizen exercise we call “stand in the circle” originates in the teaching method Taiichi Ohno used. This involved a piece of chalk, a circle drawn on the concrete floor, and a manager left to stand in it for ho

The Highest Form of Human Excellence

By Ron Pereira - January 8th, 2008

“I know you won’t believe me, but the highest form of Human Excellence is to question oneself and others.” -Socrates When someone asks me a question I typically respond with an immediate answer. There are many issues

The Secret Lives of Toyota Term Employees, Episode 5

By Jon Miller - January 7th, 2008

Do you live with the fear that your job may be gone tomorrow? Toyota group company workers do, according to an article titled Growing Reliance on Temps Holds Back Japan’s Rebound in the Wall Street Journal on January 7, 2008. The

That which doesn’t kill us makes us stronger

By Ron Pereira - January 7th, 2008

As a young boy growing up in Ohio I learned to love Ohio State. I was watching them play football before I even knew what football was. It’s hard to explain to most how much I love them. And it’s hard to express how s

101 Kaizen Templates: The Checklist

By Jon Miller - January 6th, 2008

This is the first post in the 101 kaizen templates series. Only 100 more kaizen templates to go. Takt time is 3.5 days per template. I considered planning out and structuring this series but for now we’ll just go with the flow an

Walk Slowly

By Ron Pereira - January 6th, 2008

Do you aspire to be a better leader in 2008? If so, you may consider walking slower through your office or shop talking to folks more than you do today. In lean speak we often use the phrase genchi genbutsu which basically means to go

The Cadence of Kaizen

By Jon Miller - January 4th, 2008

Kaizen is a Japanese word meaning “to change and make good,” embodying both the philosophy an the practice of continuous improvement in business as well as personal life. We are often asked about the “right” way

Management Improvement Carnival #27 (Best of 2007)

By Ron Pereira - January 3rd, 2008

John Hunter asked me to write the latest Management Carnival. Normally, bloggers look at the previous month and share some links of their favorite posts. Since we are at the start of a new year I thought I would change things up a

How to Sustain Kaizen? Follow Up with the Tenacity of the Terminator

By Jon Miller - January 2nd, 2008

Yesterday Mike Wroblewski asked How do we Sustain Kaizen Results? on his blog Got Boondoggle? This is a great topic and one that fits in with the theme of sustainability that is on the minds of lean thinkers like Toyota President Watan

Lloyd Carr’s Final Message

By Ron Pereira - January 2nd, 2008

As even semi-regular readers of the blog know I am a huge Ohio State fan. But since it is bowl season I am all about the Big Ten and was actually, yeah I am choking a bit as I say this, cheering loudly for the Michigan Wolverines yes

Comments on Toyota President Watanabe's New Year's Greeting

By Jon Miller - January 1st, 2008

Toyota entered the popular consciousness in 2007 by overtaking General Motors as the number one automobile manufacturer in the world by vehicles sold. Those of us who study lean manufacturing know that Toyota with its production system

Year: 2008