…all you need to know
…all you need to know
I recently came across the work of Masaaki Imai the highly respected Japanese operations management consultant and theorist. He first reminded me that the Japanese translation of KAIZEN is actually ‘ Change For the Better’ and not Continuous Improvement as people usually translate it today. He also made the incredibly insightful suggestion that …
Everyday, Everybody, Everywhere …definition of Kaizen Read More »
Lean Six Sigma Black Belts use Little’s Law to help reduce Customer waiting time ( Lead time). Little’s Law tells us that we must reduce our WORK-IN-PROCESS ( WIP) and also increase our rate of THROUGHPUT. Average Lead time = Average WIP / Average Throughput Improving the FLOW of the process and PULL ( Just-in-time) …
Little’s Law can help you reduce Customer waiting time Read More »
Cycle Time : The new Wait Time in Healthcare http://blogs.bmj.com/quality/2013/01/08/cycle-time-the-new-wait-time/Excellent article by Dr. Douglas Woodhouse ( physician-engineer and healthcare consultant ) explains how Lean Six Sigma can assist in reduction of waiting times ( Lead time or Cycle times ) for patients. The advice and direction given in this article is also supported by well documented studies …
Many of the key principles of LEAN and SIX SIGMA can be found in this book first published in 1911 ! The Principles of Scientific Management by Frederick Winslow Taylor This book laid out the principles of scientific management and improvement of workplace efficiency. 1. Focus on improvement the process and training of workers to follow the process. 2. Management by …
Father of Scientific Management & Work Place Efficiency : Frederick Taylor Read More »
A well written and engaging twist on #LeanSixSigma. ‘Black Box Thinking’ a new book by Matthew Syed. The book deserves to do well. The concepts and methods have already been well documented in Lean Six Sigma however Mr Syed’s book presents them in a way that everyone can relate to. Root Cause Analysis, Continuous Improvement ( #Kaizen …
#LeanSixSigma and the DMAIC method use measurement and collection of data from business processes, #hardfacts and statistical data analysis for evidence based management decisions. Data Driven Decision making (DDD) is a key component of Lean Six Sigma. In his book “Profiting from Evidence Based Management” ( 2008 ) Jeffery Pfeffer, professor of organizational behavior at Stanford University’s business school …
I am presently studying the work of Dr Richard Schonberger who I consider one of perhaps the top 10 experts in Lean Six Sigma concepts and methods alive today ( several of the others are working for the Lean Enterprise Institute ).Dr Schonberger has a led a study which he called The Leanness Study which tracked the …
Inventory turn-over per year as a measure of ‘Leaness’ Read More »
A friend of mine from New Orleans recently posted this photo from school of his nephew showing a cell-phone-holder-board to keep track of who is present in class. This is an excellent example of a simple LEAN TOOL. It results in MISTAKE PROOFING ( Poka Yoke ) the process of keeping track of who is …
A certain well known high street bank in South Shields told me yesterday that the earliest they could set up an appointment to open a new Bank Account for my wife was 13 business days away on September 16th. They claim that their “calendar” is full until then because of the “student season”.This is non-lean …
The great Jim Womack, author of ‘The Machine That Changed the World’ and passionate advocate of Lean Thinking gave this sound advice back in 2003. He eloquently describes the 7 Questions he uses in his Gemba Walks to analyse every step of the process. His 7 questions are well worth repeating in 2015. See below. Jim says… ‘ …
7 Questions to ask about everything step of your process Read More »
