In the vast landscape of production and manufacturing, one concept often stands out as a key challenge: bottlenecks. Having spent over two decades crafting compelling copy for industries across the board, I’ve seen firsthand the impact of production constraints on businesses and the importance of understanding and addressing bottlenecks. Let’s journey together into the world […]

Continuous improvement, often called Kaizen, is a fundamental concept in manufacturing that emphasizes the ongoing, incremental enhancement of processes, products, and operations. It involves a culture of constant vigilance for inefficiencies and a commitment to making minor, regular improvements. In manufacturing, continuous improvement is vital as it leads to increased productivity, higher product quality, reduced […]

    On this episode of the People Solve Problems Podcast, host Jamie Flinchbaugh engages in an insightful conversation with guest Andy Bailey, Founder of Petra Coach, Aligntoday.com, and Boundless.me. Together, they navigate the intricacies of business, weaving in their combined expertise and personal experiences. At the outset, Andy reflects on the growth journey of […]

Using mistakes to learn and improve requires that we hear about them. But leaders can’t just tell people to speak up. Telling them, “It’s safe” doesn’t make it true. Each individual decides if they feel a level of psychological safety high enough that the potential rewards of speaking up outweigh the perceived risks. As Harvard […]

Scroll down for how to subscribe, transcript, and more My guests for Episode #487 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast are two Lean leaders from GE Aerospace. They are Samantha Ruehle, Lean Operations Leader, Lean Transformation Team and Greg Pothoff, Executive Director – Business Management Aviation Supply Chain. I interviewed each of them after the […]

Most of us have memories of playing the game of catch either as children or with our children. I really shouldn’t call it a “game” because there are no winners and losers. There is no defense because everyone is on the same side. One participant tries to deliver the ball to the other in a […]

Last week I attended the Northeast Lean Conference in Worcester, MA. The Northeast Lean Conference was created by GBMP to provide information and inspiration to Lean practitioners – from those just starting out to seasoned Lean leaders from the manufacturing, healthcare, service and other vital industry sectors. The theme, It’s About Time, has a double […]

We all identify goals to improve ourselves in some way. Whether our goal is to eat better, exercise more, spend more time with our family, or increase our productivity, we all have something we’re striving for. However, in too many instances, we lose sight of our goals and fall back to old behaviors and the […]

In this third post of my series on the Toyota dashboard we will be looking in more detail at quality. The quality of Japanese car makers in general and Toyota in particular is quite a bit better than the rest of the world’s. After safety, quality is the second-most-important issue at Toyota, definitely before productivity […]

Join me for a LinkedIn Live session on Tuesday at noon ET, where I’ll be joined by my friend Billy Taylor. We’ll preview the panel discussion that Billy will be facilitating at the AME International Conference in Cleveland. The conference is being held Oct 30 to Nov 2. Learn more. The panel that Billy is […]

As you may know, A Few More Thoughts was my 28th and final book. Reflecting on 20 years of authoring books, I decided to summarize my work for my own interest and perhaps yours as well. Here is a complete list of books: And I was curious to know how many pages the books comprise… […]

On the second Monday of every October, we have a holiday in the honor of the European explorer, Christopher Columbus. Christopher Columbus is important for accidentally discovering America, thus starting the Age of Exploration, and causing world changing events that continually influence history even up today. This is a good time to talk about the […]

This is a writeup of What Lies Beneath, a new string of exercises that now forms the final session of the Leading with Outcomes module Adaptive Organisation (II): Between spaces, scopes, and scales, and by extension, the 3-day in-person training Leading in a Transforming Organisation. I tested it in that latter form in Melbourne, Australia […]

As you may know, A Few More Thoughts was my 28th and final book. Reflecting on 20 years of authoring books, I decided to summarize my work. And I was curious to know how many pages the books comprise… 5486 Pages As one reader noted: 5486 pages in twenty years. It would take an average […]

Have you heard of or read the book, Lean Politics: A Radical Cure for the State, published in 1995? It is a book about improving German politics. It references Shigeo Shingo, Kiyoshi Suzaki, and Horst Wildemann, authors who have written about Toyota Production System, Japanese management, and Lean management, respectively. Lean politics sounds like a […]

Auditing serves several essential purposes, both within an organization and in a broader societal context: Financial Integrity and Reliability: At its core, auditing evaluates the accuracy, completeness, and compliance of financial statements. This helps stakeholders—investors, creditors, and regulators—rely on the financial information companies present. Enhance Accountability and Transparency: Auditing holds entities accountable for their financial […]

It’s no secret that retaining employees today’s current job market has become increasingly difficult. This is especially true in the manufacturing industry, where turnover rates are high. In fact, voluntary turnover in manufacturing has reached almost 30 percent. So, to retain talent and maintain growth, manufacturing organizations must develop incentivized employee benefits strategies. But, what […]

Let’s be honest, it can be difficult to get people excited about the subject of business process improvement. The phrase itself has no personality, no flair. Of course, we know that continuous improvement and innovation are requirements for success in today’s hyper-competitive environment. One way to get teams excited about business process improvement is to […]

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 Don’t use your SPC chart as a process steering wheel (unless you don’t want […]

On Fridays I will post a Lean related Quote. 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 […]

15-minute FOTO, Agendashift’s Clean Language-inspired coaching game, has a cheat mode! It’s a question that’s not on the card*: The secret question: Why is that important? If you’re starting with an obstacle that seems to beg the answer to “What would you like to have happen?”, try “Why is that important?” instead. Much more interesting! […]

I’m happy to be playing the role of host and moderator for yet another webinar in the KaiNexus Continuous Improvement webinar series. Coming up on October 17th is a presentation by my friend Colleen Soppelsa: The Importance of Trust in Continuous Improvement Register now to be able to attend live. If the time (1 p.m. […]

Could the current UAW disruption be your opportunity to improve material flow? Discover 3 areas you can quickly improve!   The UAW’s decision to initiate a strike, or any large-scale industry-wide transformation, can send shockwaves throughout the manufacturing landscape. This leaves manufacturers across various sectors uncertain; the ripple effect is far-reaching and impacts us all.  In […]

Scroll down for how to subscribe, transcript, and more My guest for Episode #486 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Mike Kaeding, the CEO of Norhart. They design, build, and rent apartments. They are transforming the way this is done by incorporating technologies and techniques that have revolutionized other industries. This has resulted in […]

NAME: Bob Emiliani AGE: 65 ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Gemini (that will become obvious as you read more below 😉). OCCUPATION: Professor Emertius and Owner of Cubic, LLC. I research, write, teach, and train on the subjects of progressive and classical leadership and management. RESIDENCE: Southern Rhode Island. BORN AND RAISED IN: South Florida. RIGHT NOW I’M […]

Instead of poking fun at anything intellectual, why not get over this prefudice by recognizing the intellect as simply the instrument used by the mind. The Creative Workman Robert B. Wolf was a manufacturing manager for various companies in pulp and paper industry in the northerweastern United States and Canada in the early 1900s. He […]

In my last post I showed you an overview of the Toyota KPI dashboard. This time I will look in more detail at the first (and arguably most important) section on safety. And, while I’m at it,  let me also tell you some more about safety at Toyota. Introduction Toyota likes to say that it […]

In this week’s episode of “My Favorite Mistake,” we’re lucky to have Ken Snyder, a celebrated figure in the realm of business and academia as our guest. Currently serving as the Executive Director at the Shingo Institute and a senior lecturer at Utah State University, Ken’s journey has been characterized by accomplishments and valuable lessons. […]

tl;dr: This blog post analyzes the unusual incentive clause in the contract of Iowa football’s offensive coordinator, Brian Ferentz, which mandates a minimum average of 25 points per game for job retention. It questions the efficacy and ethical implications of such extrinsic motivations in sports, especially in collegiate football. The point of American football, including […]

After nearly 30 years, it is time to update Lean principles — to move away from the technical understanding to a practical, scientific, human-centered understanding that reflects what is known to produce good results. To accept this much-needed change requires looking at what is familiar in a new light, one that is free of prior […]

DMAIC is a structured, customer-focused, data-driven approach to problem-solving. The acronym stands for: 1- Define 2- Measure 3- Analyze 4- Improve 5- Control It is often associated with the Lean Six Sigma business methodology, but it can be valuable for any organization.

By Pascal Dennis (bio) Many fine discussions these days about the above question. Thanks to Bob Emiliani & other colleagues for their cogent questions & reflections. Let me add a few thoughts based on my observations of another field – the so-called “Back Pain Industry” – another area wherein smart, capable people can’t seem to […]

For my Facebook fans you already know about this great feature. But for those of you that are not connected to A Lean Journey on Facebook or Twitter I post daily a feature I call Lean Tips.  It is meant to be advice, things I learned from experience, and some knowledge tidbits about Lean to […]

A quick announcement before today’s post… please join me tomorrow, October 3rd for a LinkedIn Live session at 1 pm ET. How to Learn From Mistakes as Individuals and Teams I’ll be presenting for about 15 minutes and I’ll take your questions in this interactive session. Now, onto today’s post… Leaders and organizations have a […]