Jon Miller, Author at Gemba Academy

Job Instruction for Lean Transformation Leaders

By Jon Miller - June 18th, 2007

The new book by David Meier and Jeffrey Liker titled Toyota Talent is full of nuggets. Perhaps the best thing I got out of the book is an explicit understanding of the four-step approach to teaching that is Job Instruction. Now I see h

Half of the intel in Google is wasted

By Jon Miller - June 14th, 2007

You know you’re a jaded TPS sensei too long in the Lean business when you read a headline like the one on 13 June 2007 in CNet News announcing Half the electricity in a PC is wasted: Intel, Google and your first thought is “

Want to Learn Kaizen? Forget About It

By Jon Miller - June 13th, 2007

Kaizen starts in the brain, so understanding the working of the brain is essential to doing kaizen better. A June 4, 2007 New Scientist article titled Forgetfulness is a tool of the brain suggests that if we want to learn kaizen, we al

A Standard Way of Starting Your Day

By Jon Miller - June 11th, 2007

Having a standard way of starting your day has been written about in many personal productivity books, blogs and promoted by self-improvement gurus. Yet why is this so hard? In one word, variation. In some ways it is personal standard

The Top 10 Suggestion System Stumbles and How to Avoid Them

By Jon Miller - June 10th, 2007

Are you looking to implement an organizational suggestion system? Perhaps you already have one in place, but aren’t satisfied with the program? Read on to see our top 10 stumbles to avoid in your own suggestion system programs. T

Putting the Zen Back in Kaizen

By Jon Miller - June 8th, 2007

The “zen” in the word “kaizen” has nothing to do with Zen Buddhism. This is a mistake we often see in books or presentations. Kaizen means continuous improvement, or literally “to change and make good̶

Kaizen Song: Hey, Juneka

By Jon Miller - June 7th, 2007

Hey, Juneka (heijuneka) (to the music of The Beatles’ “Hey, Jude”) Heijuneka, don’t make a batch Fill one order, then fill another When salesmen place orders in small amounts Then you can start to make the load

How to Reduce the Distance Between Management and Gemba

By Jon Miller - June 5th, 2007

This issue, and how it is addressed, is one of the main factors separating successful and sustained lean transformations from those that are not. Let’s say the distance between management and the gemba is value D and the quality,

Lean in Japan, Or Not

By Jon Miller - May 30th, 2007

The YouTube video titled Lean in Japan is a bit bizarre. It’s probably strange enough to most people as a window into modern Japan, but overlaid with Lean lingo it’s just weird. It’s not clear if this video is tongue-

How to Get Your Time Back

By Jon Miller - May 29th, 2007

They say time is the only resource you can’t get any more of. Wouldn’t it be great if you could get your time back? All of that time that was lost, wasted or simply misplaced – if we could only get it back, we would p

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

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.

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

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

Toyota Number One in the World… in Recalls?

By Jon Miller - May 22nd, 2007

Not two days after imploring everyone to do kaizen like Toyota, we’re reminded that no matter how good you are at lean manufacturing, kaizen, and continuous improvement, if you focus too much on eliminating muda (waste) while ign

Do Kaizen Like Toyota

By Jon Miller - May 20th, 2007

How do we do kaizen like Toyota? Just the fact that we’re hearing this question more often is a good sign that either a) there is a growing awareness about there being a right way to do kaizen, or b) Toyota’s PR machine is

Announcing the 5S Challenge Winners!

By Jon Miller - May 18th, 2007

Thank you Konrad, Ron, Robert, Nancy, Chris, Eric, Jason, Rajdeep and Dee for your thoughtful answers to the question “which of the 5S is hardest and why?” There was a lot of emphasis in on keeping it going, the 5th S known

Lean Manufacturing by the Numbers

By Jon Miller - May 17th, 2007

Lean manufacturing by the numbers: Zero inventory Zero defects Zero accidents 1 piece flow 1 point lesson 2 bin system 2 point control (AB control, full work control) 3D (dirty, dangerous, difficult) 3 don’ts of assembly 3 don’ts o

About this Blog

By Jon Miller - May 16th, 2007

Introduction to Gemba Panta Rei Gemba Panta Rei is the corporate blog of Gemba Research, a kaizen consulting firm. In this blog we will share our thoughts on Lean manufacturing, kaizen, Lean healthcare, Lean governemnt, Lean transactio

Zero Equals Seven in the Kaizen Mind

By Jon Miller - May 15th, 2007

Taiichi Ohno taught us that even when we think “there is no waste here” you can find at least 7 types of waste. He was known to carry a piece of chalk around and draw circles around managers who could not see these wastes.

To KPO or Not to KPO?

By Jon Miller - May 13th, 2007

Here is a bit of heresy that has been rolling around my brain lately: having a KPO / Six Sigma Competency Center / Office of Operational Excellence / Continuous Improvement Office hurts rather than helps a Lean effort. Best case, these

5S Challenge: Which S Is Most Difficult and Why?

By Jon Miller - May 12th, 2007

“Which of the 5S is most difficult?” I received this question during a class I was teaching recently. I’ve never been asked this before. People often say “self-discipline is the most difficult” or “s

Will the Real TPS Sensei Please Stand Up?

By Jon Miller - May 9th, 2007

Tetsuo Hoshino is the Chairman of Gifu Auto Body Industry, a Toyota Group company. He was a student of Taiichi Ohno. Since 1990 he has taught the Toyota Production System to 20,000 senior officials in large Korean companies. Hoshino re

Seven Ideas Towards a Healing Workplace

By Jon Miller - May 8th, 2007

The entry last week on Standards, Abnormality and the Ideal seems to have struck a chord with folks. I’ve been thinking further about the idea of negative accidents or negative safety incidents and it is quite sound in theory and

Five Lean Ideas to Reduce Hotel Energy Waste

By Jon Miller - May 6th, 2007

Five small things this European hotel chain is doing to reduce energy waste: 1. The lights, television, etc. turn off when you take key card and leave the room 2. The lights in the elevator turn on only when the doors open and you walk

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