Gemba Academy

The Efficiency Conundrum

By Ron Pereira - April 15th, 2008

Ah yes, efficiency. If there was ever a word more abused I’d like to know about it. I don’t think there is. OK, maybe utilization. But efficiency is really butchered. So let’s dig into the efficiency conundrum a bit this evening

Henry Ford Learned from Sears & Roebuck?

By Jon Miller - April 15th, 2008

I am reading a fascinating book called The Company: A Short History of a Revolutionary Idea by John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge. It traces the origin and development of the joint-stock company through the modern corporation and

A Lean Enterprise Transformation is Like a Marathon

By Jon Miller - April 13th, 2008

A lean enterprise transformation is like a marathon. Success depends on daily conditioning. It’s unlike a marathon in that it’s not a race with a goal at the end of 26 miles. Perhaps it’s more accurate to say being a

The Old Navy from Hell

By Ron Pereira - April 10th, 2008

My blogging goes in spurts. I seem to get on a “theme” and roll with that for a few posts. Well, regular readers of LSS Academy have likely sensed I have been on a “take action/5S” rant as of late. Well,

Well Do Something!

By Ron Pereira - April 9th, 2008

“If you come to a fork in the road, take it.” -Yogi Berra A True Story Several years ago I was riding in the car with my Grandma and Grandpa. We were driving to the store if I remember correctly. Along the way my Grandpa pulled

How Many Times Do You Pull the Andon Cord Each Day?

By Jon Miller - April 8th, 2008

A reader commented recently on the article about the ten reasons one piece flow will not work saying “The answer to one and two is “watch production stop!?” If this is your plan to make/save money and work as a team,

Another Way of Learning to See

By Jon Miller - April 7th, 2008

What do you do when you just can’t take people to the gemba as part of your lean training? For example if you are conducting training in a hotel, a university class room or a faraway executive suite, how do you build direct obser

Fix the Broken Windows

By Ron Pereira - April 7th, 2008

What do fixing broken windows and continuous improvement have in common? I contend a lot. Read on and let me know if you agree. The so-called broken window theory comes to us by way of the criminology world. Broken Windows The theo

The Secret of TPS

By Jon Miller - April 6th, 2008

The Toyota Production System (TPS) is widely recognized as a cornerstone of Lean manufacturing. It’s characterized by just in time production and judoka, delivering precisely what customers want when they want it. Toyota’s

Don’t Step on the Tape!

By Ron Pereira - April 3rd, 2008

I recently worked on an amazing kaizen team. On the first day of the event, I was asked to say a few words. Since one of our main focus areas for the week was 5S, I decided to tell this group about my recent trip to Japan. Specifically

The Moving Constraint

By Ron Pereira - April 1st, 2008

Let me ask you a question. Is a moving constraint/bottleneck a good thing or bad thing? I contend it’s a good thing. No, I contend it’s a great thing. Allow me to explain. Let’s say there are three processes in your widget makin

Hesitate and Die

By Ron Pereira - March 31st, 2008

One of my favorite movies is U-571 starring Matthew McConaughey. In the movie, a German submarine is boarded by disguised American submariners seeking to capture its Enigma cipher machine. Now in Charge Once the seasoned skipper di

Kaizen and the Way of the Ninja

By Jon Miller - March 31st, 2008

Taiichi Ohno was fond of saying “use the way of the ninja, not of mathematical calculations”. He had fun with language even as he left the people he scolded puzzled by his words. Perhaps in today’s language he might s

Dealing with Doubting Thomas

By Ron Pereira - March 30th, 2008

Today, Roman Catholics around the world read about Doubting Thomas. No matter what your personal belief system is, I think there is much to learn from this story, especially for those of us attempting to drive change in our organizati

One Piece Flow Envelope Stuffing Experiment

10 Benefits of One Piece Flow

By Ron Pereira - March 27th, 2008

There are at least ten reasons one piece flow won’t work. But, I prefer to look at things positively. You know, the glass is half full. With this said, here are 10 benefits of implementing one piece flow. Benefit 1: Improves safety R

What is Progress?

By Ron Pereira - March 26th, 2008

I was reading some quotes of G.K. Chesterton tonight and came across this one. “Progress should mean that we are always changing the world to fit the vision, instead we are always changing the vision.” – Orthodoxy, 19

A Response to the Video Skeptics

By Ron Pereira - March 24th, 2008

It’s safe to say the kinds words, comments, and emails for my one piece flow video have far exceeded my expectations. While most of the comments and feedback have been extremely positive there have been a few skeptics in the crow

A Few More Kaizen Ideas Involving Tennis Balls

By Jon Miller - March 23rd, 2008

The article 50 Great Things you Never Knew you Could do with Tennis Balls on the The Life Hackery website complies a list of dozens of creative things you can do with tennis balls. I carry a tennis ball in my computer bag as a stress r

LSS Academy Series Review – Six Sigma Edition

By Ron Pereira - March 23rd, 2008

First of all, Happy Easter! My family and I were in Oklahoma the last few days. As is very typical with me during road trips, I began to think about this blog. I am not sure if this is entirely healthy (me always thinking about t

Spring Fever – Fact or Fiction?

By Ron Pereira - March 20th, 2008

“It’s spring fever…. You don’t quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!” -Mark Twain Texas Sun Today marks the beginning of spring. Here in Texas, the sun is shi

101 Kaizen Templates: Workplace 5S Audit Sheet

By Jon Miller - March 19th, 2008

Why would the world need another Workplace 5S Audit Sheet? Well, kaizen never ends, that’s why. Although it does rest sometimes. On this 5S audit sheet, there are 10 questions, two in each of the five categories of 5S. You need

Respect for People: Japanese Style

By Ron Pereira - March 18th, 2008

During my recent travels through Japan I was paying close attention to the words and actions of the Japanese leaders we met. One of my trip goals was to gain a better understanding of how the Japanese practiced the concept of “respec

101 Kaizen Templates: PWINT Kaizen Worksheet

By Jon Miller - March 18th, 2008

The idea of PWINT kaizen is to look for kaizen ideas that are within a narrowly defined process band, with a particular perspective of observation. The letters PWINT stand for Processing, Waiting, Inspection and Transportation. It̵

How you can help a child in need

By Ron Pereira - March 17th, 2008

My friend, and fellow blogger, Mark Graban of the Lean Blog is asking us to help a child in need. Specifically, he has a launched a virtual toy drive for children staying in a hospital. I don’t ask much of my blog readers ̵

Improving Healthcare Delivery by Studying Toyota

By Jon Miller - March 17th, 2008

The Seattle Post Intelligencer has a good article giving an update on the lean journey at Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle, titled To build a better hospital, Virginia Mason takes lessons from Toyota plants When you think of a

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