There are several reasons why someone might consider getting a Project Management Professional (PMP)® certification: Improved career prospects: Many organizations, particularly in business, technology, and healthcare, prefer or require their project managers to hold a PMP® certification. Having a PMP® certificate can make you more competitive in the job market and may open up new […]

Go for it! If the main purpose of your standup is to make sure that everyone is keeping themselves properly busy, then the questions “What did you do yesterday?” and “What will you do today?” are without doubt the basis of a great meeting format. But be careful what you wish for. If your goals […]

In this edition: My SEACON talk; Next week; Coming to Berlin; 15-minute FOTO in Danish; Allan Kelly’s Writing OKRs masterclass; Upcoming; Top posts My SEACON talk It was my first in-person conference talk since Covid and I was the first speaker up at SEACON Global 2022 Part 2 (there was a Part 1 earlier this […]

Manufacturers across the nation are looking for faster, more efficient ways to streamline processes and production. While automation seems to be top of mind for most, it’s also an expensive investment that some may not be ready to take on. Luckily, there are other solutions you can implement to improve your manufacturing facility’s efficiency.  Karakuri […]

The automation race has taken a firm hold on the manufacturing industry. Production facilities and warehouses everywhere are looking for ways to implement robots, automated storage and conveyor processes, often regardless of ROI, to minimize the inefficiencies associated with product storage, assembly, personnel challenges, packaging, and more.  But automation — from robots to autonomous vehicles […]

Manufacturers and warehouses everywhere are looking for methods to implement greater efficiencies without adding cost. Automation is at the forefront of all of our minds here, but implementing tech-heavy automation is easier said than done, and calculating ROI can be a moving target.  Flexible material handling solutions can help your facility realize improvements sooner, building […]

Air-conditioner has a power system which is known as a compressor. This compressor puts the refrigerator under a higher temperature. Before putting it under the high temperature, it pumps it under the condenser. It changes from gas to liquid. The compressor is compulsory for the air conditioner system, which provides you higher performance. You should […]

It’s all about the strings, not the puppet show Becoming a great lean manufacturer is a long term game, but, there are ways to harness serious external expertise without paying a fortune; entering ‘useful’ awards. We’ll explore the word ‘useful’ a little later. Once upon a time, a lean training & coaching company (spoiler alert: […]

Defining lean is useful, lean definitions are useless Starting a conversation on Twitter or LinkedIn about the definition of “lean” is a little like taking the top off a beehive. Many in the lean community fiercely defend entrenched positions around the differences between Lean, TPS and OpEx. This isn’t an article in that vein, it’s […]

A recent blog “2 lean skills your Team Leaders should have: Change Points” covered the first of several simple skills that make a real difference to the life and effectiveness of a Team Leader. This second skill covers the much underrated ability to think like a dead Italian economist. More formally, how to peer out onto your manufacturing […]

Here at Sempai we’re lucky in more ways than we have fingers and toes to count. One of those ways is the fact that we get to coach people, and coaching is by far the most interesting aspect of this business. It’s not easy though and can be mentally tiring because it’s the polar opposite […]

In lean manufacturing there’s a lot of talk and focus on Team Leaders mastering tools like 5s, Standardised Work and the 7 Wastes. These “Kaizen skills” are really important but will be of little value if your Team Leaders haven’t got the fundamental “Control Skills”. The 4 key control skills are: 1. ,,Start of Shift […]

,5S ACTIVITY 1.Sort 2.Straighten 3.Shine 4.Standardise 5.Sustain What is 5s? 5s is an interesting and often misunderstood building block of lean. Understanding ranges from the ill-informed:,“it’s a fancy way of saying – clean up and do your housekeeping” to the deeper understanding of:,“it’s how we organise the workplace to support safety, quality cost and delivery” […]

By Pascal Dennis (bio) I do not know what I may appear to the world, but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay […]

By Pascal Dennis (bio) Lean Iceland recently – keynote talk and a number of workshops. Thanks to Viktoria Jensdottir and Lísa Ævarsdóttir for their kind invitation, and splendid conference organization and management. Thanks to the 400+ Icelanders who attended – a superb turnout. Some impressions of Iceland: tenacity, humility, humanity, curiosity and toughness. Icelanders have […]

By Pascal Dennis (bio) A while back I had read a fine piece by Jack Welch in an issue of Fortune magazine. He would effortlessly get to the heart of complex issues. I’ve encountered each of the four groups of business-haters that Welch cites. Sadly, they are all too prevalent among our media, academic and […]

Developing and executing business strategy is a large undertaking involving dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of people. Consequently, it is very important to make sure the strategy is both sound and executable to avoid the many hidden pitfalls and errors. And when hidden pitfalls and errors are encountered, as is almost always the case, there […]

Here is what you should do: Learn from other Lean professionals’ experiences. Think about what you are getting yourself into. Learn what you are up against: Classical management. If you decide to become a Lean professional, then learn and practice Lean management every day at work (kaizen). And never losing sight of what stands in […]

A humorous blend of business and physical science.

My friend Kjell Tore Guttormsen persuaded ChaptGPT – OpenAI’s AI chatbot – to produce a post about Agendashift. With some caveats, what it came out with was pretty impressive! Agendashift is a framework and set of tools for helping organizations to adopt and adapt practices from the Lean, Agile, and business agility communities. It is […]

A strategy that ignores the obstacles is liable to fall at the first hurdle. That’s if it even gets that far – who will take seriously a strategy that ignores the issues? Turn those obstacles into outcomes Agendashift-style, and organise them so that you can establish a sense of direction, identify places to focus your […]

In this year-end edition: How far we’ve come; Top 10 new posts of 2022 and most recently; Still going strong, our most-read classic posts; Updates to events, self-paced training, and media How far we’ve come It hardly seems possible, but Leading with Outcomes: Foundation only came into being this year. It launched in February, and […]

Who should lead the next change your organization faces? Who should lead a transformation? A lot depends on the nature of the change. On one end, you have deterministic, programmatic, and tool- or technology-centric changes. On the other end of the spectrum, you have leading change into a VUCA world, a stochastic change, an organic […]

How you start does matter, because it sets up momentum and other psychological factors to carry that momentum forward, as is also true in the reverse where a bad start can sabotage your remaining efforts. Years ago, The Onion showed a light on this fact with this hilarious story that feels all too true.  Admitting […]

There are many problems where we struggle with things such as creativity and breaking down the problem. One such problem that is frequently voiced is the elimination of bureaucracy. You cannot just eliminate bureaucracy. What can you do? You can break down the problem, understand the elements and contributing factors. You can also leverage creativity […]

It’s too complicated. I don’t understand. It doesn’t work. It’s not for me.  Whether launching a new product, or a new company initiative, these might be phrases that you’ve heard. It stems from overdesigning the solution. It shows up as the waste of over-processing, doing more than your customer requires or needs. It results in […]

Whether in problem-solving, or broad lean behaviors, or seeing the customer as an entrepreneur, there is much articulated about the idea of going to see for yourself. There are many terms for it, such as “direct observation” that we articulated in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Lean, or Gemba commonly used by the lean community, or […]

Episode 34: “Crazy Ideas, From Shipping Flowers to Crab Whiskey” In Episode 34, Mark Graban and Jamie Flinchbaugh begin by belatedly celebrating the 3rd birthday of Lean Whiskey. No, this wasn’t a pandemic-launched podcast, although if we hadn’t started it yet it probably would have become one. We also learn of Mark’s pending trip to […]

No matter what your profession, everyone should consider at some point in time a personal work retreat. For me, it is usually about research and writing. Certainly, almost all of People Solve Problems was written across multiple retreats up to the mountains. Bill Gates would take his “think weeks” away in a cabin to read […]

Episode 35: “We’re tired, but not tired of whiskey. A Gemba walk will pick us up.”    In Episode 35, Mark is recently back from his Scotland Gemba visit. He isn’t tired from jet lag, or from whiskey, but nevertheless, Mark and Jamie both end up complaining about being tired. Maybe we’re just…old (gasp). We […]

Episode 36: “Guest Chris Kauzmann, and Design Thinking’s Relationship to Lean Thinking”  In Episode 36, Jamie Flinchbaugh is joined by Chris Kauzmann, Adjunct Faculty, and Innovator in Residence at Lehigh University. Chris, a self-described “bottom shelf” whiskey drinker, joins Jamie to sample some Nikka Coffee Malt Whiskey and Blue Run High Rye Bourbon.  We explore […]

Product variants drive up cost. The more variants you have for the same quantity sold, the higher your production cost. Inversely, if you can reduce your number of variants, you can reduce your cost. In this post I will give you some general suggestions on how to reduce your number of variants. Hopefully these inspire […]

In my last post I looked at how to reduce product variants, and the inevitable conflict with sales. In this post I will look at how to reduce not the number of final products, but the number of part types that go into the final product… and here you often have a conflict with product […]

Recently, the Japanese word ikigai has been popping up as a way to find happiness. While not quite a manufacturing theme, it is related to industry and to Japanese culture, and hence I decided to write a blog post about it. It is a lot of hubbub around a few good (but not new) ideas, […]