Gemba Academy Blog

Blog Archive

Intuition, Information and the Toyota Production System

By Jon Miller - July 1st, 2007

There are quite a few things that are counterintuitive about the Lean management system known as TPS. They are all fairly simple things, but hard to do since they feel wrong to people who have not been swimming in the waters of TPS for

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

Standard Work for the CEO

By Jon Miller - June 28th, 2007

A great thing about blogging is that it becomes a visual management tools for our company. In many ways, what we are doing is posting standards about how we think, teach and manage at Gemba. This is free and open for all team members,

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

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.

The Secret to Calculating Takt Time in Your Head, Fast

By Jon Miller - June 26th, 2007

People are always amazed when I do takt time calculations lickety-split in my head. Here’s my secret: it’s the result of a lot of practice with doing math in the head, and memorizing a few nifty net available time numbers.

Taiichi Ohno’s Revolution of Awareness

By Jon Miller - June 25th, 2007

Very early in the book Taiichi Ohno’s Workplace Management the architect of the Toyota Production System calls for “a revolution of awareness”. He proceeds to talk about misconceptions and false beliefs of various typ

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.

10 Common Misconceptions About Lean Manufacturing

By Jon Miller - June 24th, 2007

1. Lean production = volume production. In Taiichi Ohno’s Workplace Management he suggested that the Toyota system was ideally suited for low volume production, and not as well suited for the higher volume production that Toyota

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

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

How Many Ways Can You Do Kaizen at Your Company?

By Jon Miller - June 21st, 2007

The theme of kaizen and the human brain is one of our favorites here at Gemba, and this week’s post by Mike Lopez at the Lean blog takes on the important topics of psychology and Lean. Mike points out that the way in which you do

How beer influenced statistics

By Ron Pereira - June 20th, 2007

Originally published on June 20, 2007  Back in the early 1900s, a certain W.S. Gosset, an Englishman, was tasked with brewing better beer.  Really, I’m being serious. Gosset was a bright man with two degrees from Oxford and was

What Does the Observer Have to Do with the Observed?

By Jon Miller - June 20th, 2007

The fact that light is both a wave and a particle at the same time has been puzzling physicists for decades. More recently, managers have been puzzled by the fact that work is both value and waste at the same time. This wonderful video

Stop “Deploying” and Make Something Better

By Ron Pereira - June 20th, 2007

A reader of the Lean Blog left this comment to the excellent post Psychology and Lean. Unsolicited advice…. but maybe instead of pushing lean (and maybe you aren’t)… figure out what the main problems and pain points

The Pugh Matrix

By Ron Pereira - June 19th, 2007

By Rob Thompson The Pugh matrix was invented by Stuart Pugh at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland. It was designed as an approach for evaluating multiple options against each other, relative to a baseline option. It goe

Lean Dentist

By Ron Pereira - June 18th, 2007

I believe the guys over at the Lean Blog may have previously discussed this story… but in case you missed it I wanted to share it.  There is a dentist that believes in lean thinking and is becoming recognized for it.  Here is

We interrupt this Blog

By Ron Pereira - June 18th, 2007

I apologize for the technical difficulties today.  My hosting company (name starts with a color and ends with the word host) has failed me the last few weeks.  Today the site was down for much of the afternoon.  Needless to say I wi

Job Instruction for Lean Transformation Leaders

By Jon Miller - June 18th, 2007

The new book by David Meier and Jeffrey Liker titled Toyota Talent is full of nuggets. Perhaps the best thing I got out of the book is an explicit understanding of the four-step approach to teaching that is Job Instruction. Now I see h

Start your improvement training today.

Explore Courses Chat with an expert