Ron Pereira, Author at Gemba Academy

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.

759 Articles

The Power of 3

By Ron Pereira - July 14th, 2007

One of my favorite “blogging” sites is Daily Blog Tips. On it Daniel shares all kinds of good ideas for those of us who attempt to blog. Recently Daniel held a contest where the participants had to simply use “3&#

My Latest Invention Idea

By Ron Pereira - July 13th, 2007

I often come up with some great invention ideas only to find out someone already thought of it. Well, this morning when I was filling my car up with gas I thought of one I am almost sure no one has thought of. Introducing Vacuum while

5 Tips to Success

By Ron Pereira - July 12th, 2007

There are a plethora of books on leadership and how to succeed in life. However, in my opinion there is a very simple formula that, if followed, will enable you to succeed at whatever it is you are called to do. Here is my list (no b

Say it ain’t so! Toyota lay people off?

By Ron Pereira - July 11th, 2007

My friend Mark over at the Lean Blog posted a respect for people question from a question he saw on the Lean Insider blog. For those new to this blog, respect for people is an extremely important aspect of lean. In fact many would

Manufacturing Lost 18,000 Jobs In June

By Ron Pereira - July 10th, 2007

If you are American and want a feel good story this ain’t the one… so please come back tomorrow and I will try to do better. Anyhow, I saw this article the other day and didn’t have time to comment on it until tonig

8 Tips to Better Meetings

By Ron Pereira - July 9th, 2007

Most of us have sat in a meeting or two that, well, was a complete waste of time. Often times the facilitator is to blame for these mind numbing experiences. That is the bad news. The good news is it doesn’t have to be like this. Ton

Lean Problem Solving

By Ron Pereira - July 8th, 2007

I was over on iSixSigma and saw this question from Chris on their forum. I have a process that involves 3 seperate work cells. The first cell has an avg. cycle time of 2 hours and so does the third cell. My problem is that the second

Becoming Annoyed with the 4-Hour Workweek

By Ron Pereira - July 7th, 2007

As regular readers of this blog know I am reading the 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss. I am still not done with it but wanted to officially declare this book is beginning to annoy me. The New Rich Early in the book Ferriss introduces

David (Toyota) vs. Goliath (Big 3)

By Ron Pereira - July 5th, 2007

Guy Kawasaki had an interesting post today in reference to the types of stories people like to talk about. There were nine types discussed… but one immediately caught my eye. David vs. Goliath. In the story of David and Goliath, th

3 Easy Steps to Becoming More Effective

By Ron Pereira - July 2nd, 2007

No matter what you do for a living or vocation, you will be in a position to double, possibly triple, your effectiveness after reading this post. I am so confident you will be successful if you follow my advice I offer a complete, mo

Parkinson’s Law

By Ron Pereira - July 1st, 2007

I am on page 75 of “The 4-Hour Workweek.” The jury is still out on whether this book is total bull pucky or border line genius. Here is an excerpt explaining an interesting time management concept. Parkinson’s Law

My Top 5 Blogging Mistakes

By Ron Pereira - July 1st, 2007

I have been blogging for around 6 months now. It’s safe to say I am hooked. With this said, after some hansei, I have formulated the top 5 blogging mistakes I have made thus far. If you are thinking of blogging, or are ve

Cabinet Maker Applies Lean

By Ron Pereira - June 30th, 2007

Interesting story about an outdoor cabinet maker (for telecom) applying lean. There were a few comments I don’t completely agree with but overall seems like a pretty solid company. Purcell Systems Inc., a maker of outdoor ca

Is the Drive-Thru Really Faster?

By Ron Pereira - June 29th, 2007

OK, I ate way too much fast food this week as I went to both Wendy’s and McDonald’s for lunch. Both times I went around noon. I was also in a rush on both occasions. Both times I pulled up and noticed that the drive-th

I Just Made 700 Peanut Butter Sandwiches

By Ron Pereira - June 28th, 2007

What’s the most peanut butter and honey sandwiches you’ve ever made before? I just got done making over 700 in 45 minutes. Yep, that’s right 700 in 45 minutes. Besides how… you may wonder why someone would

"Learn From Failure" Visualized with Scrabble pieces

10 Steps to Creating a FMEA

By Ron Pereira - June 28th, 2007

A Failure Modes Effect Analysis (FMEA) is an extremely powerful tool that benefits anyone, no matter your occupation or status in life. In this article, we’ll discuss the history of the FMEA, the different types of FMEA, and fina

3rd Annual Lean, Six Sigma, & Process Improvement Summit

By Ron Pereira - June 28th, 2007

I am happy to announce the latest sponsor of LSS Academy, IQPC. Become a world-class organisation with integrated Lean, Six Sigma & Process Improvement strategies. Embed a process excellence culture in all your business functions a

How does a 4 hour work week sound?

By Ron Pereira - June 27th, 2007

There is a new book out called “The 4-Hour Workweek.” It’s author is an interesting fellow by the name of Timothy Ferriss. They guy is like an ultimate fighter (yeah, cage style) so I need to be careful what I s

New TOC Blog

By Ron Pereira - June 26th, 2007

There is a new blog focused on the Theory of Constraints niche. There is not much content posted yet but the “blue light” story summarizes Taiichi Ohno’s teaching on the difference between work and motion perfectly.

When is the best time for kaizen?

By Ron Pereira - June 25th, 2007

When is the best time for kaizen? Anytime? Perhaps. However, in Taiichi Ohno’s Workplace Management we read that the best times to do kaizen are when things are going great. There is an expression “poverty dulls your

Lean Accounting Webcast Archive

By Ron Pereira - June 25th, 2007

If you missed the Lean Accounting webcast last week here is a link to the archive. What you need to know about lean accounting (Hint: It’s not just for accountants). This archive will be available for one year from this link.

How to preach the gospel

By Ron Pereira - June 24th, 2007

One of my passions in life is studying and learning more about my Catholic faith. I especially enjoy reading the early church fathers. And of these earliest Christians, St. Francis of Assisi may be my favorite. St. Francis, when in

God called down the rain

By Ron Pereira - June 22nd, 2007

I’ve had a crap week and need to vent. Earlier this week in Keller, TX we received about 7 inches of rain in about an hour. Normally this would create a small lake in my back yard that would soon run off into the street.

Concrete Heads

By Ron Pereira - June 22nd, 2007

This 4 minute video, while ultimately a lean consulting sales pitch, is pretty funny and so true in many companies. Check it out.

How to apply the one sample t-test

By Ron Pereira - June 21st, 2007

Last night we discussed the history and background of the one sample t-test. As promised, tonight we will discuss how it is you actually use the slick little hypothesis test. At the end of this post is a free case study available f

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