Ron Pereira

Ron has more than 20 years of experience in various manufacturing, supply chain, and senior leadership roles. Ron has held the titles of process engineer, engineering manager, master black belt, and director of manufacturing & continuous improvement. In 2002 Ron was the first American to win the Nokia Global Six Sigma and Overall Quality award in Helsinki, Finland. Ron holds a bachelor's degree in automated manufacturing and an MBA in technology management.

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759 Articles

Farewell iSixSigma

By Ron Pereira - July 25th, 2011

As some may have already heard iSixSigma is most likely closing its doors due to its parent company Schofield Media losing its bank financing. A few bloggers and companies selling Six Sigma related products have recently posted their t

Gemba Glossary: Gemba

By Ron Pereira - July 22nd, 2011

Here is the latest Gemba Glossary video focused on the word gemba. If you missed any of the preview Gemba Glossary videos be sure to check them out: Gemba Glossary: 5S Gemba Glossary: 7 Wastes Gemba Glossary: Kaizen Once the video begi

Help! No Management Support!

By Ron Pereira - July 19th, 2011

Most will agree that having top management support is crucial to succeeding at any form of continuous improvement – lean, six sigma, TOC, etc. But what happens when management isn’t behind the employees who are attempting to use le

Gemba Glossary: Kaizen

By Ron Pereira - July 14th, 2011

Here is the latest Gemba Glossary video focused on the word kaizen.  If you missed any of the preview Gemba Glossary videos please be sure to check them out: Gemba Glossary: 5S Gemba Glossary: 7 Wastes And to access more than 165 othe

3 Ways to Break Through Productivity Ruts

By Ron Pereira - July 12th, 2011

We’ve all been there… stuck in rut. Unmotivated. Bored. Possibly even a bit down in the dumps. And, to be sure, when we’re in this dip it’s easy for our personal productivity to hit rock bottom. With this said, here are 3 thing

Hustle

By Ron Pereira - July 6th, 2011

It’s 12:43 AM and I’ve been in the zone working on some Gemba Academy projects. I can’t explain it… but I love working late into the night from time to time.  I do think getting adequate sleep is supremely impo

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

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

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

Gemba Glossary: 7 Wastes

By Ron Pereira - June 10th, 2011

In this edition of the Gemba Glossary we focus on the 7 Wastes. Click where it says “240p” to select a higher definition version of the video if you’d prefer. To access more than 150 additional lean training videos pl

What Challenges Are You Facing?

By Ron Pereira - June 7th, 2011

A quick question… what challenges are you currently facing as it relates to building a culture of continuous improvement within your organization? These challenges can be related to people, processes, or anything else in between.

Gemba Glossary: 5S

By Ron Pereira - May 31st, 2011

Gemba Academy has started a new series of free videos called the Gemba Glossary.   These short, normally less than 2 minutes, videos will offer definitions and explanations of key lean terms. The first video in this series is focused

Character & Integrity

By Ron Pereira - May 30th, 2011

Those that follow American college football likely know that Jim Tressel, Ohio State’s football coach, resigned today. It’s a sad, although not totally unexpected, day for Buckeye nation. Of course the rest of the college football

Total Productive Maintenace (TPM) Overview

By Ron Pereira - May 9th, 2011

If your company relies on machines and/or equipment of any kind to satisfy customer demand chances are extremely high that Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) could benefit you. With this said, I’m excited to announce that Gemba A

The Secret to Living a Happy Life at Home and Work

By Ron Pereira - April 27th, 2011

I’m confident that I’ve found the secret to living a happy life. I’m serious. I really do think I’ve figured it out. You see, I know many people who are unhappy since they spend most of their lives at jobs they don’t lik

Make Lean Work For You!

By Ron Pereira - April 21st, 2011

I just got off the phone with a gentleman struggling to apply lean concepts in his workplace. This person — let’s call him Jeff — works in a distribution environment meaning he doesn’t produce widgets for a living. One

Let’s Dance

By Ron Pereira - April 11th, 2011

A few months ago I wrote about my experiences coaching my daughter’s U7 soccer team. Specifically, I shared how lots of practice and hard work resulted in our girls winning their indoor league championship. Well, I’m very excited

Leader Standard Work – Part 1

By Ron Pereira - March 18th, 2011

Here is part 1 (of 7) of Gemba Academy’s Leader Standard Work course. If you’re reading this via email or RSS reader you’ll likely need to click through to the website in order to watch the video.

3 Ways to Help the People of Japan

By Ron Pereira - March 15th, 2011

If you haven’t already considered it… I’d encourage you to make a donation to help the people of Japan. There are many ways to help including the following 3 options. The Red Cross First, one of the easiest ways to he

10 Tips to Immediately Boost Productivity

By Ron Pereira - March 10th, 2011

Are you struggling to be productive today? We’ve all been there. Here are 10 tips that, if implemented, will give you an instant boost!  And be sure to check out the related posts below this one for additional ideas.  Work your

Free Seminar: Using 3P to Support Healthcare Facility Design

By Ron Pereira - March 8th, 2011

Gemba Academy, in collaboration with the Kaizen Institute and Qualis Health, is proud to announce a free seminar focused on Using 3P to Support Healthcare Facility Design in Seattle, Washington on March 17, 2011. Please see the attache

Is Little Caesar’s Lean?

By Ron Pereira - March 7th, 2011

A few weeks ago we discussed whether the use of a dishwasher was lean or full of waste.  Well, last night I needed to pick up some Little Caesar’s pizzas for my soccer team.  I needed to order several pizzas and wondered how lo

Are Dishwashers Lean?

By Ron Pereira - February 21st, 2011

Doug, a reader of LSS Academy and Gemba Academy subscriber sent me the following question.   I have some opinions but am very interested in what you all think of Doug’s question.  Here is what Doug sent. Hi Ron, Does a dishwa

Stealing Monkeys

By Ron Pereira - February 16th, 2011

I love learning new things… as such yesterday was a very good day as I had the privilege to hear Mike Wroblewski deliver training on Leader Standard Work, TPM, and Time Observation. For those interested, all of this live training was

This is the worst it’s ever been

By Ron Pereira - February 10th, 2011

I’m typically a glass is half full kind of guy. But I also believe the phrase “This is the worst it’s ever been…” just may be the mission statement successful people and organizations live by.  You se

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