The purpose of this paper is to stimulate interest in substantially improving the strategies and tactics used to advance Lean management to gain more widespread interest progressive management among top business and other leaders. You may love it. You may hate it. Either way, please read it and reflect. I welcome your feedback. Lean Mgmt […]

How can you easily apply scientific thinking to everyday problems and strategic challenges? And how can you better coach others to think? How can you apply the Toyota Kata improvement and coaching practices in your organization? I was excited to learn earlier this year that Sylvain Landry was releasing a book – titled Bringing Scientific […]

In mid-2022, I was invited by the Brazilian business school Grupo Voitto to give a virtual keynote at their annual international leadership conference, the QP Summit 2022, to speak about leadership, learning, and my book Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn. Previously, in 2021, I participated in Voitto’s webseries “Culture of Excellence” with an interview […]

As leaders and continuous improvement practitioners, we’re committed to learning and to creating a “learning organization”. But how? Any leader seeking to create a learning organization must cultivate both the technical skills for problem-solving and the social skills of coaching for problem-solving. This is the foundation of what lean and continuous improvement is about – […]

PDCA, also known as the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle, is a continuous improvement methodology that can improve production efficiency. Here are the steps for using PDCA to improve production efficiency: Plan: Identify an area of production that needs improvement and define the problem or opportunity. Develop a plan to address the issue, including setting goals and targets […]

Choose to use Process Excellence projects as the mechanism for solving your critical business issues. Relentlessly communicate the importance of continuous improvement and encourage all staff to embrace the Process Excellence methodology. Choose your best people to lead projects and help them succeed. Participate in monthly project reviews. Understand the Process Excellence methodologies well enough […]

Updated 2022-11-17: Renamed network #2, minor edits elsewhere Expanding slightly on yesterday’s LinkedIn post (linkedin.com), your organisation in 5 networks: Network #1: Your reporting network. This is just your formal structure – typically a hierarchy, perhaps with the occasional bit of dual reporting thrown in – seen here as lines of communication. Because sideways communication […]

As co-author of Introduction to Manufacturing, I received the first print copies with trepidation:: Did they print it on good paper? Does the book stay open flat without paperweights on each side? Are all the numbers and cross-references accurate? Are the pictures sharp and the colors vivid? … For the paperback edition, so far, it’s […]

What is unavoidable — in Teams we work with people. And we work also with people outside the Team.  But let’s discuss that topic in another post. The next obvious thing to say is that people are complicated, each person by herself or himself, and in a Team of seven then, we get a lot […]

FEATURE – This nurses-led experiment in Barcelona’s Hospital Clinic is proving successful in getting more patients discharged on time and avoiding surgery cancellations. Words: The Orthopedic-Traumatology Surgery team BACKGROUND In the context of the economic crisis of 2008, as it struggled to address the high demand for knee replacement surgery and a long waiting list, […]

If you’re reading this article, Objectives and Key Results (OKR) is probably familiar to you. If you’re having success with OKR, congratulations! I would love to hear about your learnings.  On the other hand, if you still need to realize the benefits promised by OKR or OKR is a frustrating initiative for your organization, I […]

Would you consider customer experience the most important indicator of strategic performance for your organization? More than 45% of organizations do. Indeed, a healthy relationship with your customers is among the critical traits of successful, growing, and sustainable businesses. Understanding, tracking, and improving your workflow efficiency is important to ensure your customers are satisfied with […]

Throughout our lifetimes many people touch our lives and leave us with words of wisdom. These can both be a source of new learning and also a point to pause and reflect upon lessons we have learned. Within Lean active learning is an important aspect on this journey because without learning we cannot improve. 10. […]

Although the Christmas-preparations can put us under stress, it still seems that during the few weeks before and around Christmas we are more caring and loving. We are much more of a family person all of a sudden, we think about world peace, we have more compassion, patience with others and start overflowing with altruism. […]

I saw a story on the NBC Nightly News last night about the ChatGPT / OpenAI tool, and they used examples of asking the AI bot to explain concepts to a 5-year-old. After asking a similar tool to explain Lean in healthcare, I posed this question (it was more of a command, I guess): Explain […]

Thanks, everybody, for reading my blog here in 2022. And for listening to podcasts… so many podcasts again this year! Here are a few numbers, before we get to the most-read posts of the year. Podcast Numbers This year, I released 34 new “Lean Blog Interviews” podcast episodes. More still to come in 2023. Thanks […]

Thanks as always to Ryan McCormack for this… there’s always so much good reading, listening, and viewing shared here by him! Subscribe to get these directly from Ryan via email. Insights about improvement, innovation, and leadership… Operational Excellence, Improvement, and Innovation Does Deming Still Matter? Yep.  Don’t blame the grass, blame the gardener Frustrated at […]

Times of Uncertainty Demand It Regardless of the amount of change and uncertainty we’ve been though, there are always some consistencies. And in terms of an organization, those consistencies rest with the attributes and behaviors of leadership. At their foundation, they are about the resilience, persistence, and ability to be agile. Only in these ways […]

We’ve been talking a lot about playing offense lately. It’s no secret it’s time to free ourselves from the defensive mode we’ve all been in for far too long. We’ve talked about transformation, resilience, and adaptability, as we shift our mindsets from a reactionary standpoint to an anticipatory one. But let’s be very clear – […]

We’ve talked at length about the uncertainty that has surrounded us all for longer than we care to remember. This uncertainty has manifested itself in the workforce in countless ways, including high rates of absenteeism, massive supply chain issues, and increased instances of employee burnout. We’ve also talked about what it takes to get through […]

This article is the final installment in a three-part series dedicated to educating you about low-cost, high-impact lean solutions available for eCommerce and fulfillment. Each article focuses on a different portion of your warehouse’s process, from picking best practices to kitting and assembly, and finally packaging and shipping. If you have questions about any of […]

This article is the second installment in a three-part series dedicated to educating you about low-cost, high-impact lean solutions available for eCommerce and fulfillment. Each article will focus on a different portion of your warehouse’s process, from picking and restocking to assembly and kitting to repackaging, packaging, and shipping. If you have questions about any […]

This article is the first of a three-part series dedicated to educating you about low-cost, high-impact lean solutions available for eCommerce and fulfillment. Each article will focus on a different portion of your warehouse’s process, from picking and restocking to assembly and inspection to repackaging, packaging, and shipping. If you have questions about any of […]

A digital transformation in manufacturing will soon become essential for every organization in the manufacturing industry. In this blog, we explore what digital transformation in manufacturing is and the benefits of it. What is Digital Transformation in Manufacturing? Digital transformation in manufacturing is the process of an organization intentionally leveraging and implementing new digital technologies […]

Before we get into detailing why you should digitize abnormality reporting (F-tags), let’s first discuss what abnormality reporting (F-tags) are and why they’re essential for any manufacturing business. What is Abnormality Reporting (F-tags)? Abnormality reporting is also known as F-tags. The F in F-tag stands for Fuguai, a Japanese word that translates to “deviation” or […]

Today, we’ll be discussing five reasons why you should digitize equipment maintenance. But first, let’s get into the difference between corrective maintenance and preventive maintenance.  Corrective Maintenance vs Preventive Maintenance Equipment maintenance is essential for any and every organization. Traditionally, corrective maintenance was very common. But, nowadays, organizations have shifted towards preventive maintenance. Let’s distinguish […]

By Pascal Dennis (bio) LPI Back to Basics Series, Part 1 Plan-Do-Check-Adjust – so easy to say. An inexperienced young fellow recently said to me, “PDCA is too easy. I need something more…” At his age, I was thick too. The mist gradually cleared for me, as I’m sure it will for him. My Toyota […]

Basic Respect for People Respect for People has been on our minds here at Sempai. Multiplying uncertainties in the world mean that people – employees – often suffer in tough times as the purse strings are pulled tighter. It doesn’t have to be about money though – the small, daily pain points and indignities often […]

Recently I recorded my 6th episode of the Gemba Academy Podcast with host Ron Pereira when we were together in person at the Association for Manufacturing Excellence (AME) 2022 conference in Dallas. In this episode, we focus our discussion on how leaders and learners can navigate the inherent struggle that comes with learning, while at […]

It was an incredible honor to not only hear Larry Culp, the CEO of General Electric and CEO of GE Aerospace, when he spoke at the AME 2022 annual conference in Dallas, but to have the opportunity to interview him on stage in a “fireside chat” about his leadership approach, his top recommended leadership books, […]

We all know a couple people who have changed the direction of our lives and careers, even with very brief interactions.  Something they said created an a-ha moment that changed our perspective or provided the catalyst that helped draw the connection between thoughts we’ve been mulling for a long time. For me, one of those […]

By Pascal Dennis (bio) LPI Back to Basics Series, Part 2 “Big Data” is all over the Net, and rightly so. Burgeoning computer horsepower means we’re able to crunch numbers like never before. Manufacturing, Marketing, Human Resources etc. will be able illuminate opaque areas. Billions of data points — molecular, customer and team member behaviour, […]

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 […]

Lean enterprise is a business philosophy and set of practices that aim to continuously improve the efficiency and effectiveness of an organization by eliminating waste and increasing customer value. It is based on the principles of the Toyota Production System, developed at the Toyota Motor Corporation in Japan in the mid-20th century. Some of the […]