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The problem with that is…

By Ron Pereira - July 19th, 2007

For some reason some folks seem dead against making things better. One of the easiest ways I can tell if I am dealing with a concrete head is by simply listening to the words they use. For example, whenever I hear someone say (after

There is No Honor in Muri

By Jon Miller - July 18th, 2007

Unreasonableness is a six syllable, sixteen letter word. It’s a lot simpler to say muri in Japanese. Certainly less precious breath is wasted without the four extra syllables. Muri arises when you try to fight variability at the

Final Thoughts of The 4-Hour Workweek

By Ron Pereira - July 18th, 2007

I finally finished “The 4-Hour Workweek” by Timothy Ferris. This book was quite the emotional journey. Before I even read it I was both skeptical and encouraged at the same time. I then came across an interesting conc

Lean for Airports (Dare to Dream…)

By Jon Miller - July 17th, 2007

The new Nagoya International Airport was famously built under budget and faster than scheduled thanks to help in Lean thinking from Toyota advisors. In another example of public-private partnership, a July 17, 2007 Computerworld UK art

Challenge, Kaizen, Genchi Genbutsu, Respect, Teamwork

By Jon Miller - July 16th, 2007

Challenge, kaizen, genchi genbutsu, respect, and teamwork. These are the five ideas that were codified as the fundamental principles that guide the actions of Toyota people in the “Toyota Way 2001”. We might call them ̶

Explaining the Central Limit Theorem

By Ron Pereira - July 16th, 2007

If you hate statistics this post is for you. Why? Because it’s my intention to have you understand AND be in position to teach others one of the more complicated and misunderstood statistical concepts of our time – the central

12 Quotes from Martin Luther King Jr. to Inspire Change

By Jon Miller - July 15th, 2007

Martin Luther King Jr. was a great leader and a historic change agent. Studying his quotes can inspire those of us who work to make positive change each day. King said: A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of c

Cummins Chief Snags Award

By Ron Pereira - July 15th, 2007

Tim Solso, CEO of Cummins, has won the WCBF Six Sigma CEO of the Year award. “Six Sigma is one of the best things we have ever done. Last year we saved $340 million and completed 2,200 projects. Since the inception of the program in

Just Throw it Away

By Ron Pereira - July 15th, 2007

Originally published on July 15, 2007 I sometimes feel like a bit of a hypocrite when it comes to teaching people about 5S. For those not familiar with it, 5S is a philosophy and a way of organizing and managing our workspace, wherever

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

Q&A During a Recent Gemba Walk

By Jon Miller - July 13th, 2007

Gemba walks are great fun. But it’s become clearer to me only recently that they can be awkward at first to the leader in transition from traditional style to Lean management. With permission and without revealing the identity of

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

Is Michael Moore a Lean Thinker?

By Jon Miller - July 11th, 2007

Monday on the Lean Blog Mark Graban did some interesting reflection and analysis on claims by filmmaker Michael Moore that 18,000 people die each year in the U.S. due to the lack of health insurance. The U.S. population, per Google, is

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

Top 10 Improvement Tools Named After Lean Sensei

By Jon Miller - July 9th, 2007

1. Ohno Circle Taiichi Ohno was the Toyota executive largely responsible for structuring and implementing the system known today as the Toyota Production System over four decades after World War II. Ohno was known for drawing a chalk c

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

New Metric for Lean Leadership: MTBFTFTBF

By Jon Miller - July 8th, 2007

Those of you who are familiar with TPM or other progressive maintenance systems will recognize MTBF. The acronym MTBF refers to the mean time between failures. For products, MTBF is a reliability rating indicating the expected failure

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

Three More Ways to Increase Personal Productivity through 5S

By Jon Miller - July 5th, 2007

The discipline of 5S increases personal productivity by making your work environment simpler, more structured, and safer. Much of the time that is saved is time not spent looking for things by being able to see right away whether every

Toyota Production System A to Z

By Jon Miller - July 3rd, 2007

If you ever find yourself face to face with a Japanese Lean sensei, you might find some of these words useful in building common ground. Andon – Colored lamps (red, yellow, green) or visual indicator of abnormalities Batch –

Your Lizard Brain Wants to Help You Be Lean

By Jon Miller - July 2nd, 2007

An article on July 1, 2007 in LiveScience titled Study Reveals Why We Learn From Mistakes sheds light on why visual management and the habit of genchi genbutsu is so important to problem identification and learning. Once again, brain s

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

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