Ron Pereira, Author at Gemba Academy | Page 22 of 31

Ron Pereira

Ron Pereira is a co-founder and the Managing Director of Gemba Academy and has more than 30 years of experience helping organizations improve performance through Lean, Six Sigma, and continuous improvement. Prior to starting Gemba Academy, Ron served in a variety of manufacturing, supply chain, and leadership roles, including process engineer, engineering manager, Master Black Belt, and director of manufacturing and continuous improvement. Today, Ron works with leaders around the world to develop problem-solving capabilities, strengthen leadership, and build cultures where continuous improvement thrives. Through his writing, podcast interviews, and educational programs, he shares practical insights that help organizations achieve lasting operational excellence.

758 Articles

Lean Blog Update

By Ron Pereira - February 28th, 2008

Our friend, Mark, over at the Lean Blog is battling some technical difficulties. He is working hard to fix things.

The Time of Fulfillment

By Ron Pereira - February 28th, 2008

The word metanoia literally means the changing of one’s mind through repentance. Spiritual Life In the theological sense, metanoia occurs when a person examines their life and decides to turn away from sin and towards God. Often time

Let’s Create a Future State Value Stream Map!

By Ron Pereira - February 26th, 2008

Let’s continue with our value stream mapping (VSM) series this evening by discussing the future state VSM. If you are just joining us, please feel free to read the previous articles before jumping into this one. Value Stream Mapping

The Real Leader

By Ron Pereira - February 25th, 2008

My sister Denise recently sent me this quote. “He has genuine integrity, he has serious style, and he’s pulled me through more than one bout of the stomach flu. Anybody can sprinkle rose petals across a big brass bed, but o

Let’s Create a Current State Value Stream Map!

By Ron Pereira - February 24th, 2008

In this third installment of our value stream mapping series, we will discuss how to create a current state value stream map. If you missed the other articles in this series, they are linked below: Value Stream Mapping Overview How to

Press to Rationalize Chrysler Product Line

By Ron Pereira - February 22nd, 2008

I am finally winding down on one serious road trip across the UK and Germany. I head back home tomorrow. I have slept in 6 different hotels the past 9 evenings. It’s been crazy to say the least… especially given the f

Clean up, Guide to Lean, and more

By Ron Pereira - February 19th, 2008

Things have been pretty crazy around here the last few days. Switching over to this new website was definitely worth it… but not without it’s share of work. Clean Up When you switch to a completely new design like this ce

One Piece Flow versus Mass Production

By Ron Pereira - February 18th, 2008

Update on Nov 6, 2020: The original version of the video is no longer available. But I did want to add a note that the reaction to this original article was one of the main reasons Gemba Academy exists today. I have left the original c

What is RSS?

By Ron Pereira - February 17th, 2008

I’ve been asked by a few folks what the funny looking blue icon on my front page was all about. So, let’s take a break from lean and six sigma and talk about the wonders of RSS. The Good Old Days In the old days when we wanted

Kudos to American Airlines and DFW International Airport

By Ron Pereira - February 13th, 2008

I just had the best experience here at the DFW International airport. I pulled up to the drop-off zone, kissed my wife and kids good-bye, grabbed my bags, headed to the Executive Platinum check in line (one of the benefits of frequen

How to Create a Product Quantity / Product Routing Matrix

By Ron Pereira - February 12th, 2008

In part 1 of our series on value stream mapping (VSM) we were introduced to what a value stream is. We also discussed the roadmap I personally use when working with this powerful tool. In this installment, we’ll take a deeper dive in

Value Stream Mapping Overview

By Ron Pereira - February 8th, 2008

One of, if not the single most powerful lean tool available to us is value stream mapping (VSM). The reason it’s so powerful is because of its relevancy. You see, it doesn’t matter if you are an accountant who sits behind a

Long Live the King (Cash)

By Ron Pereira - February 7th, 2008

If you are involved with a for-profit business in any way please remember one thing – cash is king. Of course respecting people is absolutely critical. But cash pays the bills. It buys things. It pays salaries. So without money in

Schofield Media Group Announces Acquisition of iSixSigma

By Ron Pereira - February 6th, 2008

Big news yesterday from Michael Cyger, owner of the extremely popular iSixSigma brand. I am pleased and excited to announce that CTQ Media, owner of the publishing brands including iSixSigma, Real Innovation, BPM Enterprise and Sourcin

The Never Ending Pursuit of Wisdom

By Ron Pereira - February 5th, 2008

Let no one deceive himself. If any one among you considers himself wise in this age, let him become a fool so as to become wise (1 Cor 3:18). Wisdom is a mysterious thing and something, I contend, worth our full attention. You see, I

Just Do It

By Ron Pereira - February 2nd, 2008

“Talk doesn’t cook rice.” -Chinese Proverb While planning, checking, and acting/adjusting are of course crucial elements of the PDCA cycle I sometimes feel as though the “do” element is under-utilized. In a similar way,

JIT and Jidoka are Useless…

By Ron Pereira - January 30th, 2008

Yes, the two pillars of the Toyota Production System – JIT and Jidoka – are absolutely worthless… if you don’t respect people. You see, in my opinion, anyone who tries hard enough and gets support from more ex

Rope Suppliers

By Ron Pereira - January 28th, 2008

J Thatcher recently asked: Here’s a question: If the student becomes the initiation point for “pull” learning, how does the instructor continue to “push” students beyond what they believed themselves capable? (And yes, I’m

Inspired at NASA

By Ron Pereira - January 27th, 2008

This past weekend my family and I went to Houston to visit some relatives. On Saturday we went to NASA. If you have never been there you need to carve out some time to make this visit. I took quite a few pictures and will try to

Should we Push or Pull in Schools?

By Ron Pereira - January 24th, 2008

My good friend, and excellent blogger, Mark Graban posted an interesting article related to how a school is using continuous improvement methods to, well, improve things. For those who don’t know, Mark and I live in the same town an

Excellence is a Habit

By Ron Pereira - January 23rd, 2008

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but habit.” -Aristotle I am doing my best to teach my kiddos about lean and six sigma. Since they are ages 5, 3, and 1 my instructional tactics need to be crea

Textron CEO on State of Six Sigma

By Ron Pereira - January 22nd, 2008

USA Today recently interviewed Lewis Campbell, Textron’s CEO. The questions were mainly centered on Textron’s enterprise wide deployment of Six Sigma. They asked several questions, some of them quite tough. All were answered with,

Has Lean or Six Sigma Changed your Life?

By Ron Pereira - January 21st, 2008

Mark Graban just posted an article about LEI’s newest book. Looks to be sort of like the Lean Lexicon but with blog-like quotes. Mark shared one of the excerpts from the book. “Lean should not have ‘changed’

Learning to Learn

By Ron Pereira - January 17th, 2008

Lean Enterprise Institute has a book called Learning to See. It’s about how to use value stream maps to “see waste” in a new way. It’s a great book and even better book title. Go to Amazon and check it out. But I think an even

Shadows or Reality?

By Ron Pereira - January 14th, 2008

One of my passions in life is to learn. As such, I have begun the year by ditching books about leadership, lean, and six sigma (for now). In their place I have decided to study philosophy which may make you want to yawn… but I woul

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