July 2009 | Gemba Academy

Ask Gemba: Volume and Variability in Demand Segmentation

By Jon Miller - July 31st, 2009

Joe asked an interesting question: I am doing some research on demand segmentation and found some rather conflicting information from two credible resources. According to The Toyota Way Fieldbook when leveling production you produce Hi

Queuing Kaizen at Southwest Airlines

By Jon Miller - July 29th, 2009

I can count the times I’ve flow on Southwest airlines, which is to say not often. Their no-frills approach and unique profitability as an airlines has earned them praise and the designation as “lean” by some. My impre

I’ll Take My Lean with Water, On the Rocks

By Jon Miller - July 27th, 2009

As an archaeology and ancient history buff it’s always exciting when someone discovers the ruins of a lost city. More so when the lost city is found off the coast and under a few meters of water. There is a great deal of history

Lean Hackathons – Are You Using Them?

By Ron Pereira - July 27th, 2009

Are you on Facebook? I am but that’s not the point of this article. No, the point of this article is that I just watched a short video about how the Facebook development team uses what they refer to as “Hackathons” to quickly bri

Kaizen Song: Hold On ‘Til You See (the Downstream Pull)

By Jon Miller - July 26th, 2009

Late last night after dropping a couple of friends off at the airport, “Hold On Loosely” by 38 Special came on the radio. It’s simple but lovely song that holds on loosely to a timeless truth. Those wild-eyed southern

It’s Always Day 1

By Ron Pereira - July 23rd, 2009

I just got done watching this video of Jeff Bezos, of Amazon, where he announced that Amazon has snatched up Zappos. I first saw this over on John Hunter’s blog. And while this is big news for sure… the thing that I loved a

Agile Kanban Journal Day 30: Show the Flow!

By Jon Miller - July 22nd, 2009

When agile kanban meets kaizen, only good things can happen. Yesterday was day 30 of my agile kanban board usage. Having been on the road much of the last month I haven’t had a lot of time to think about appropriate metrics, targ

Three Hoshin Habits for Effective Execution

By Jon Miller - July 20th, 2009

One of the people I most respect as a business leader often repeats the phrase “go slow to go fast”. There is a nearly identical Toyota way principle which states that slow and deliberate planning will speed up execution of

Dream Big… Start Small

By Ron Pereira - July 19th, 2009

My youngest daughter, who turns 1 this coming weekend, recently took her first steps and is a much happier little girl as a result. My wife and I think she just wanted to go, go, go as she watched her older brother and sisters run arou

Value Added Percentage Question

By Jon Miller - July 16th, 2009

Yesterday I came across an example of a value stream whose numbers left me puzzled. The value-added percentage was greater than 100. This seemed impossible at first but I now understand how it can happen. The process, the numbers, and

Month: July 2009