Gemba Academy

To Certify or Not…

By Ron Pereira - September 25th, 2009

Mark Graban wrote a relatively simple post a few days ago that has simply BLOWN up with comments. Mark, if I may be so bold, doesn’t really believe in certifications… especially if the words six sigma are involved! Me, well

New Lean Blog

By Ron Pereira - September 24th, 2009

Jamie Flinchbaugh is not really new to the lean blogosphere as he’s been writing over on the Lean Blog and most recently on Evolving Excellence… but I am excited to see him finally start his own blog. So, please be sure to

A Tortoise and a Hare Get Into a Potato Sack…

By Jon Miller - September 24th, 2009

Jamie Flinchbaugh, author of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Lean and founder of the Lean Learning Center has been a regular contributor to Lean Assembly magazine, the Lean Blog as well as Evolving Excellence. Now Jamie has his own blo

Free Quick Changeover / SMED Overview Training Video

By Ron Pereira - September 23rd, 2009

We continue to add new content over at Gemba Academy. So far we’ve covered the following topics: 5S Workplace Productivity. They say, “If you can’t do 5S, you can forget the rest.” Learn why 5S is far more tha

The Coffee Kaizen

By Ron Pereira - September 22nd, 2009

By Rick Foreman, Lean Development Manager Note from Ron: This is a guest post from my friend, frequent LSS Academy commenter, and most importantly Brother in Christ – Rick Foreman. Enjoy! We’ve heard of the phrase, “rose-co

How to Be Lean in a Batch Production Industry

By Jon Miller - September 22nd, 2009

Faisal asked: How to use lean in batch production industry? Most of the time I hear customers saying “lean is for mass production companies and not for us.” This is a common question and one worth shining some light on. The

Toyota-style Problem Solving, Step 7: Check Both Process and Results

By Jon Miller - September 20th, 2009

The eight step description of the PDCA cycle of problem solving called Toyota Business Practice (TBP for short) or practical problem solving continues to top my list of important things everyone should know. I’m finding it surpri

The Wizard of Oz School of Lean

By Jon Miller - September 17th, 2009

The question is more than a month old (sorry Brian!) so perhaps it’s already been worked out with the client, but it was a good question I would like to address. Brian asked: Can you please share with me your thoughts on implemen

A mother and daughter shopping in a grocery store

Genchi Genbutsu on the Retail Floor

By Jon Miller - September 14th, 2009

The September 14, 2009 Wall Street Journal article Seeing Store Shelves Through Senior Eyes explains how retailers are applying the TPS principle of genchi genbutsu (go to the floor and see what’s really going on) in redesigning

Three Risks of Implementing Lean without Policy Deployment

By Jon Miller - September 13th, 2009

Ideally the goals of each discrete improvement activity are aligned with the goals of the overall improvement program or change deployment framework and this is also aligned with the strategic direction of the business. Unless you are

The e-mail gemba

By Jon Miller - September 10th, 2009

There is a lot to like about e-mail. Without its widespread adoption starting about 15 years ago I would not have kept in touch with many old friends. I can still remember writing letters, by hand, and waiting… E-mail has allowed

The Seven Wastes & $10 Off Subscription to iSixSigma Magazine

By Ron Pereira - September 3rd, 2009

I recently wrote an article for the iSixSigma magazine focused on the 7 Deadly Wastes. And as it turns out the good folks over at iSixSigma have been nice enough to allow me to offer this article to LSS Academy readers in PDF form. So

Learning From You

By Ron Pereira - September 3rd, 2009

I’ve been reflecting on my earlier post this week about my “mini-kaizen” while placing labels onto CDs. As always, your comments were great. Some folks agreed with my approach. Nice work and you have a good looking sister in law!

What is Kaizen? The Little Gear

By Jon Miller - September 3rd, 2009

What is kaizen? A reader reminded me that a lot of terms used in articles on this blog go unexplained. Although it’s one of our favorite topics, kaizen is one such term that is often used but seldom explained in enough detail for

Complexity and Love Songs

By Ron Pereira - August 31st, 2009

My family and I recently took a much needed vacation. One of our stops was in Chicago where my wife and daughters attended my sister-in-law’s wedding shower. One of the party favors for the ladies that attended the wedding shower was

Important Lessons in Kaizen from A Different Kind of Map

By Jon Miller - August 31st, 2009

Can you guess what the small squares on this map indicate? This is an image that has been distributed on science news websites during the past week. The picture has been cropped to hide some information. This map and the tiny squares o

Energy Treasure Hunt at the Grocery Store

By Jon Miller - August 30th, 2009

The energy treasure hunt at the grocery store is almost too easy. The bright lights, cooling or refrigeration of a large stock of items year-round, heating in the winter and air conditioning in the summer, the places we go to buy our f

Bad News from MIT for the PDCA Cycle?

By Jon Miller - August 30th, 2009

According to research reported from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Picower Institute for Learning and Memory we don’t learn from our mistakes. Oh-ho. If this is true the whole scientific basis for kaizen is in tr

The Lean Energy Treasure Hunt

By Jon Miller - August 26th, 2009

One of the most enjoyable and rewarding lean manufacturing improvement activities is the energy treasure hunt. The booty we claim on these energy treasure hunts include savings by shutting off motors or machines left running, replacing

Agnosia: Losing the Ability to See the Obvious

By Jon Miller - August 24th, 2009

In order to succeed at leading anything that involves people, one needs to know a lot about people. This is especially true when it comes to lean manufacturing, lean retail, lean distribution, lean healthcare or whatever you prefer to

Lean Thinker Interview with Former Toyota Quality Manager

By Ron Pereira - August 24th, 2009

We’ve recently added a new series of videos over at Gemba Academy called the “Lean Thinker Interviews.” During these interviews we’ll be talking to senior lean practitioners about their experiences and life less

The Versatile Leader – Part 3

By Ron Pereira - August 23rd, 2009

So far in this series we’ve discussed the directing and coaching leadership styles. In this article we’re going to move onto the last two leadership styles – encouraging and empowerment. The Encouraging Leadership Style The encou

The Versatile Leader – Part 2

By Ron Pereira - August 20th, 2009

“That’s what I do now: I lead and I teach. If we win basketball games from doing that, then that’s great, but I lead and teach. Those are the two things I concentrate on.” -Mike Krzyzewski, Duke University In part 1 of

Ambiguous Visual Controls: Come Closer. No, stay Away!

By Jon Miller - August 20th, 2009

Peter Köves shared an amusing example of this ambiguous or perhaps downright dangerous visual control. When hiking in the countryside of South Limburg near the Dutch city of Maastricht, I stumbled upon this sign on the side of the pat

Lean Thinker Interview with Chris Schrandt

By Jon Miller - August 19th, 2009

It is our pleasure to bring you the Lean Thinker Interview series from Gemba Academy. Over the following months we will feature people with interesting insights and stories to share about their experience learning and applying lean. In

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