Tips for Lean Managers Archives | Page 19 of 22

Kaizen Consultant Asks: “Why is this Here?”

By Jon Miller - June 2nd, 2006

Last month I joined two kaizen consultants from our team to do an opportunity assessment at a tier one automotive company. It’s good to see kaizen and Lean manufacturing efforts increasing at automotive factories in the United St

Before Kaizen, Ask “If You Had Enough, Would You Know?”

By Jon Miller - May 29th, 2006

I visited the 35th annual Seattle Folklife Festival yesterday, enjoying a couple of hours with my family before diving into a very busy couple of weeks. There was great music, passable weather and more hippies than you can shake a stic

Going Back to School for Hoshin Kanri

By Jon Miller - May 18th, 2006

I’ve taught Hoshin Kanri half a dozen times to clients but I struggle to put it into practice at Gemba. You won’t be interested in hearing my excuses, and it’s my fault that we’ve had Hoshin Kanri annual plans i

Kaizen Means Thinking “Now Things are the Worst Ever”

By Jon Miller - January 6th, 2006

There has been a lot of discussion about “failing to become Lean” on blogs, in newsgroups and in books lately. Reading press releases and financial statements of many less-than-truly-Lean companies, they would like the anal

The Perils of Not Going “Genchi, Gembutsu” (On Site, With the Actual Things)

By Jon Miller - November 21st, 2005

I take a lot of people from many companies to Japan to see lean organizations, such as the Toyota Motor Corporation. One of the themes you see and hear in Toyota is the idea of Genchi (actual place) and Gembutsu (actual things). Toyota

In Defense of Mr. Rogers

By Jon Miller - November 13th, 2005

I’ve been enjoying Bill Waddell’s tough-and-straight postings lately on the Evolving Excellence blog. I had to stop and think awhile after reading last week’s posting titled Ohno, Shingo and Bobby Knight. I have a lot

Skill Matrix Enables Suggestion System

By Jon Miller - November 10th, 2005

We received a call from a kaizen facilitator who was concerned that their suggestion system was losing steam. We went to their Gemba to find out what was going wrong. This company was receiving plenty of suggestions. They had copies of

Client tells Gemba: “We’re Wasting Our Money by Paying You”

By Jon Miller - November 2nd, 2005

Earlier this week I had a chance to join one of our consultants on a follow up visit to one of our clients. We were there for a Lean transformation progress check and to make training and kaizen project plans for 2006. We reviewed thei

Design Process Around People

By Jon Miller - October 29th, 2005

The issue of policing the time people spend on bathroom breaks at Ford sparked discussions online and in forums this week. The Lean Manufacturing Blog and the Superfactory blog both posted thoughtful commentary. Ford management reporte

Lean Applied to Food Service

By Jon Miller - October 18th, 2005

I recently had lunch at Babe’s Chicken Dinner House in Roanoke, Texas. It was a surprising place to find Lean principles at work. They have a streamlined product offering with two items on the menu, fried chicken and chicken frie

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