June 2011 | Gemba Academy

Great, here comes Mr. “Oh – No!”

By Ron Pereira - June 28th, 2011

As I mentioned in a recent article I had the great honor of meeting Mr. Masaaki Imai, the founder of the Kaizen Institute and author of several lean related books. As it turns out, Mr. Imai knew Mr. Taiichi Ohno – the chief architect

Children's Hospital of Saskatchewan – Getting Lean

By Jon Miller - June 28th, 2011

Here is a great 4-minute Youtube video showing how the Kaizen Institute teams in the USA and Canada applied the lean methodology of Production Preparation Process (3P) in designing a new facility at the Children’s Hospital of Sas

The Importance of Being Columbo

By Jon Miller - June 26th, 2011

During the 1970s I shared one experience in common with Taiichi Ohno. We both watched Colombo on television, dubbed in Japanese. In fact this is something I share with possibly a hundred million Japanese people, so it only goes to show

Need your Website Design Help!

By Ron Pereira - June 26th, 2011

Hi LSS Academy friends! I need your help. We’ve recently launched a new Gemba Academy website and are looking for feedback. The “Product” page is a particularly important page on the site so I’d like to get yo

The COPQ Iceberg

By Jon Miller - June 25th, 2011

S.M Junaid is the Production Manager of Procon Engineering Pvt (LTD) from Karachi, Pakistan. He periodically shares kaizen examples with us. His previous contributions can be found here and also here. Today’s kaizen example is ti

My Week with Mr. Masaaki Imai

By Ron Pereira - June 24th, 2011

Shortly after graduating from college, many moons ago, my Father gave me a book he promised would change my life. The book was called “KAIZEN: The Key to Japan’s Competitive Success” and was written by a man named Masaaki I

Dunbar’s Number, Span of Control and Lean Organization Design

By Jon Miller - June 21st, 2011

A few weeks ago I learned about something called Dunbar’s Number while listening to the radio. The relevance of Dunbar’s number to lean organization design struck me immediately. There are such things as magic numbers. Some

Kaizen Stories from Masaaki Imai

By Jon Miller - June 17th, 2011

Yesterday I had the pleasure of visiting with Masaaki Imai,the founder of our company Kaizen Institute Consulting Group. Most people know him as the author of his influential books. 1975 Never Take Yes for an Answer: An Inside Look at

Suggestion Box Visual Mistake Proofing

By Jon Miller - June 14th, 2011

This suggestion box was placed in one of the walkways within the airport in Basel, Switzerland. It caught my eye because of the clever use of plexi glass to make the contents of the box visible. Making the contents of the box visible l

Understanding Lean through a Systems Theory of Safety

By Jon Miller - June 13th, 2011

Prof. Nancy Leveson is an expert in the safety of systems. She is Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT. She created the STAMP approach (Systems Theoretic Accident Model) and has written a book on systems theory applied to s

Month: June 2011