Category: Blogs
Process Improvement in the Age of Smart Manufacturing
Published:Process improvement projects have typically been a labor-intensive and imprecise process. Labor-intensive in that capturing the as-designed vs the actual current-state process required facilitated meetings, interviews, surveys and analyzing operational data over an extended time period. Imprecise in that workers will typically act differently when they know they are being watched and measured. The Hawthorne […]
Read more ยปUnderstanding Permutations and Combinations
Updated:In Six Sigma problem solving, it is often important to calculate the likelihood that a combination of events or an ordered combination of events will occur. Understanding some of the basic concepts of probability provides practitioners with the tools to make predictions about events or event combinations. This provides a good foundation for understanding probability […]
Read more ยป5 Suggestions for an OpEX Practitioner in a Digital World
Updated:The Lean Six Sigma (LSS) Green Belt and Black Belt curriculum needs an overhaul. The original operational excellence (OpEx) Lean Six Sigma methodology developed by Motorola in the 1980s and made famous by Jack Welch at General Electric (GE) in the early 1990s is finding itself a bit long in the tooth in comparison to […]
Read more ยปCase Study: 5S in Practice
Updated:5S is a Lean tool that helps in workplace organization. The following is the list of five Japanese words and their translation in English. (Seiri) Sorting and prioritizing: Going through all the tools, materials, etc., in the work area and keeping only the essential items. Everything else is stored or discarded. (Seiton) Straighten or set […]
Read more ยปA Macro That Writes Macros
Updated:If you are like me, you may find yourself writing a fair number of MS Excel macros to automate repeatable tasks. One day it dawned on me, however, that several of the aspects of writing macros were repeatable tasks themselves. When writing a macro I would often start by: Creating a data structure that would […]
Read more ยปDoes an Innovative Product Alone Guarantee Success?
Published:Successful innovation is not only about the creation of a new idea but also about its execution.
Read more ยปLean Product Development: Quality Function Deployment – Part 4 of 4
Published:QFD speeds up the product development process by removing what doesnโt matter to the customer. Just like the Kano analysis, QFD is interested in what the customer says is important. The format of QFD removes the time-consuming activities that donโt add value.
Read more ยปLean Product Development: Kano Analysis – Part 3 of 4
Published:We must understand the needs and values of the customers at a deeper level. To this end we employ Kano analysis.
Read more ยปLean Product Development: The Customer Journey Value Stream – Part 2 of 4
Published:The customer journey value stream (CJVS) is the best starting place for the Lean community to engage in the processes of product development.
Read more ยปA Look at Lean Product Development – Part 1 of 4
Published:Why hasnโt Lean revolutionized product development like it has operations? We donโt share product development knowledge.
Read more ยปHow Do You Eat an Elephant?
Published:By using smaller bites from a large problem, you can quantitatively assess performance and then apply improvement changes.
Read more ยปSpreading Success at Colorado Department of Transportation
Published:The Colorado Department of Transportationโs Lean Everyday Idea program has successfully implemented over 345 ideas as of fall 2020. But how does the word spread across an entire state?
Read more ยปTips for a Successful Virtual Gemba Walk
Published:The foremost purpose of the gemba walk is people-engagement. Here are some suggestions for conducting a gemba walk in the virtual space.
Read more ยปJust-In-Time: Perpetrator or Victim of COVID-19?
Published:As we consider our business response to COVID-19, take a truly Lean approach. See JIT in the context of Lean and evolve it as necessary, using the change in environment to identify waste and see new problems as opportunities for new improvements.
Read more ยปHow to Break the Ice – Virtually
Published:Icebreakers can help teams to build community, promote interaction and foster empathy. Some of the go-to icebreakers I have used over the years have translated well into the virtual environment.
Read more ยปAcronyms R Us
Published:Why not do something novel and use the tool that is best for the job at hand independent of an acronym?
Read more ยปPrioritization in a Crisis
Published:If thereโs one thing that the coronavirus pandemic has made glaringly apparent, itโs that we need to do a better job with prioritization and, ultimately, delegation, execution and communication.
Read more ยปWhy Practice 5S?
Published:Someone asked: “Why do 5S [sort, simplify, shine, standardize, sustain]? Itโs just going to get dirty again.”
Read more ยปFuel the Fire of Continuous Improvement
Published:Improvement is like a mighty fire. You must continue to add firewood to keep the fire burning. If you stop, the fire will surely burn out. Lots of repetition builds the fire of improvement capability and culture.
Read more ยปCommon Misunderstandings About Process Control Tools in Non-Scientific Applications
Published:We read or hear โfactsโ and accept them without critical thought. This article reviews a sample of the kind of facts we accept in the workplace that sometimes we should not.
Read more ยปLean Six Sigma for Poets
Published:Lean can be of great value in office environments. However, the use of complex jargon and statistics, plus a focus on manufacturing, have hindered the adoption of these tools in other settings where they can be useful.
Read more ยปYou Can’t Excel if You Avoid People
Published:If your goal is control at all cost, or faster and deeper analysis, automation might be just the strategy for you. But if you need to retain and motivate your people to boost business performance, such a strategy of people avoidance is likely to come to a sticky end.
Read more ยปAll Models Are Wrong
Published:Depending upon the particular organization, quality may or may not be influential in management decision-making. Ultimately, it depends upon what is understood as quality. There may be more urgent tactical actions than those related to quality if the organization’s product or service quality is acceptable โ it may not be perfect, but if it’s acceptable then that’s good enough.
Read more ยปThe 10 Best Quality Books of All-Time
Published:Looking for good books to read on the topics of quality, Six Sigma, Lean and OpEx? This reading list shares the best quality-topic books of all-time and book recommendations by topic.
Read more ยป