Lean Archives | Page 56 of 67

Introducing the 5 Why “So What” Test

By Ron Pereira - January 10th, 2010

We, over at Gemba Academy, are busy finishing up our 8 Step Practical Problem Solving course which is modeled after the Toyota Business Practice (TBP) methodology. In one of the modules we’re exploring 5 Why Analysis in more detail s

2 Ways to Handle Varying Inventory Levels When Creating Value Stream Maps

By Ron Pereira - January 7th, 2010

Shaunak, a reader of LSS Academy, recently sent me the following question via email. By the way, if you have ever have questions related to continuous improvement (lean and/or six sigma) feel free to email me. I will do my very best

Kanji and Humility

By Ron Pereira - January 6th, 2010

“We come nearest to the great when we are great in humility.” – Rabindranath Tagore My friend, and fellow Texas lean blogger / Big Ten college football fanatic, Mark Graban wrote an article earlier this week summarizing ten t

How to Write an Arbitrary Dividing Point in Time Resolution

By Jon Miller - December 31st, 2009

I’ve never been a big believer in Arbitrary Dividing Point in Time Resolutions, or as some people call them, New Year’s Resolutions. Goal setting should be a constant output of the continuous improvement lifestyle, the resu

2009 Carnival of Lean Blogs

By Jon Miller - December 30th, 2009

It’s time for a quick look back on the year before we slam, lock and bar the door on 2009 and welcome 2010 and the opportunity to demonstrate our learning by not repeating our mistakes. I can’t wait. Carnival master John Hu

The 18 Most Active LSS Academy Articles in 2009

By Ron Pereira - December 21st, 2009

I recently wrote about the most read LSS Academy articles in 2009. Now, in this post, I’d like to share with you the LSS Academy articles that garnered the most comments in 2009. As you’ll see some of these posts are quite

Christmas Shopping for Lean Thinkers

By Ron Pereira - December 16th, 2009

The folks over at the Lean Enterprise Institute are extending a special holiday discount offer. You can get $10 off any LEI Store purchase by entering THANKYOU09 in the discount code field at checkout. The offer is good through Jan 3

Now in Paperback: Taiichi Ohno’s Workplace Management

By Jon Miller - December 15th, 2009

Taiichi Ohno said, “Your wits don’t work until you feel the squeeze.” By that measure I and most of the world ought to have seen a significant improvement our mental capacities in 2009. It’s been quite a year. A

Free Practical Problem Solving Overview Video

By Ron Pereira - December 9th, 2009

Gemba Academy has recently released the first three modules of our latest course – Practical Problem Solving. Here is the first overview module of this course. Please note that if you are reading this article via email or your

Thank You and Last Chance to Purchase Lean Audio Book at $7.95

By Ron Pereira - October 19th, 2009

Just a quick post to thank all of you that have purchased the LSS Academy Guide to Lean Audio Book. Your generous support helps us pay the bills around here (i.e. monthly hosting, site maintenance, etc.) without having to plaster annoy

Blog Action Day: Climate Change

By Jon Miller - October 15th, 2009

More than 10,000 blogs are writing about climate change today. That’s pretty amazing. It’s not quite like writing 10,000 letters to liberate political prisoners. It’s an interesting way to use the internet to build aw

Kaizen – FastCap Style

By Ron Pereira - September 28th, 2009

If you’d like to see kaizen in action, and I do mean real kaizen, you need to set aside around 23 minutes to watch this video of the FastCap team improving the way some items are packaged. As an aside, FastCap has been practicing

To Certify or Not…

By Ron Pereira - September 25th, 2009

Mark Graban wrote a relatively simple post a few days ago that has simply BLOWN up with comments. Mark, if I may be so bold, doesn’t really believe in certifications… especially if the words six sigma are involved! Me, well

Free Quick Changeover / SMED Overview Training Video

By Ron Pereira - September 23rd, 2009

We continue to add new content over at Gemba Academy. So far we’ve covered the following topics: 5S Workplace Productivity. They say, “If you can’t do 5S, you can forget the rest.” Learn why 5S is far more tha

The Coffee Kaizen

By Ron Pereira - September 22nd, 2009

By Rick Foreman, Lean Development Manager Note from Ron: This is a guest post from my friend, frequent LSS Academy commenter, and most importantly Brother in Christ – Rick Foreman. Enjoy! We’ve heard of the phrase, “rose-co

The Seven Wastes & $10 Off Subscription to iSixSigma Magazine

By Ron Pereira - September 3rd, 2009

I recently wrote an article for the iSixSigma magazine focused on the 7 Deadly Wastes. And as it turns out the good folks over at iSixSigma have been nice enough to allow me to offer this article to LSS Academy readers in PDF form. So

Learning From You

By Ron Pereira - September 3rd, 2009

I’ve been reflecting on my earlier post this week about my “mini-kaizen” while placing labels onto CDs. As always, your comments were great. Some folks agreed with my approach. Nice work and you have a good looking sister in law!

Complexity and Love Songs

By Ron Pereira - August 31st, 2009

My family and I recently took a much needed vacation. One of our stops was in Chicago where my wife and daughters attended my sister-in-law’s wedding shower. One of the party favors for the ladies that attended the wedding shower was

Lean Thinker Interview with Former Toyota Quality Manager

By Ron Pereira - August 24th, 2009

We’ve recently added a new series of videos over at Gemba Academy called the “Lean Thinker Interviews.” During these interviews we’ll be talking to senior lean practitioners about their experiences and life less

Free 7 Deadly Wastes Overview Video (Spanish Subtitles)

By Ron Pereira - August 11th, 2009

We’ve been unbelievably busy over at Gemba Academy the last few months. We continue to develop new content (we’re now up to 44 videos, 28 interactive quizzes, 28 PDF summary documents, and much more) and most recently our t

If Lean Is So Great, Why Is Toyota Struggling?

By Ron Pereira - August 9th, 2009

Balaji, a reader of LSS Academy, recently sent me the following question/comment via email: Toyota, GM, and Ford are experts in state of the art assembly technology and in implementing Lean and Six Sigma process improvement methods and

Management Improvement Carnival #72

By Jon Miller - August 8th, 2009

John Hunter over at Curious Cat Management Improvement blog has asked me to guest host an episode of the Management Improvement Carnival. Kudos to John for having done 71 of these over the past several years. Here are my choice of arti

Do You Read Much Russian?

By Ron Pereira - August 4th, 2009

The LSS Academy Guide to Lean has been translated to Hungarian and most recently to Russian. If you’d like to download the Russian version please visit this site (free registration required). If you’d like to download the H

Queuing Kaizen at Southwest Airlines

By Jon Miller - July 29th, 2009

I can count the times I’ve flow on Southwest airlines, which is to say not often. Their no-frills approach and unique profitability as an airlines has earned them praise and the designation as “lean” by some. My impre

Lean