Gemba Academy

Implementing 5S in Your Company

By John Knotts - August 18th, 2023

In an era where business competition is fierce, having a streamlined operation can give you a significant edge. One effective strategy to achieve operational efficiency is the 5S methodology. But how do you know if your company needs 5

Conducting A Manual Process Assessment

By John Knotts - July 21st, 2023

A manual process is a task or procedure that is performed without the assistance of automation or technology. These tasks typically require human effort, physical actions, and direct input. Manual processes can range from simple tasks,

The Power of Creativity in Process Improvement Projects

By John Knotts - June 16th, 2023

In today’s fast-paced and competitive business environment, organizations are constantly seeking ways to improve their processes to stay ahead of the curve. While traditional process improvement methodologies play a crucial role,

How Context Switching Affects Problem-Solving

By Steve Kane - May 26th, 2023

In today’s fast-paced world, our minds are continuously challenged by multiple tasks and competing priorities. While multitasking has become a norm, it has a detrimental effect on problem-solving abilities. Context switching, the

Maximizing Efficiency with Warehouse Control

By John Knotts - May 19th, 2023

In today’s fast-paced business world, effective warehouse management is crucial for maintaining a competitive edge. A well-organized and controlled warehouse can significantly impact overall operational efficiency, customer satis

Eight Tips for Managing Up

By Steve Kane - April 28th, 2023

Managing up is an essential skill that can help you succeed in a rapidly changing environment. As businesses and organizations continue to evolve and adapt to new challenges, it’s critical to develop strategies to effectively com

5S and Spring Cleaning

By John Knotts - April 21st, 2023

What better time than now to talk to you about spring cleaning and 5S? Now, you may be wondering what exactly 5S is, and how it relates to spring cleaning. Well, let me explain. 5S is a methodology used in manufacturing and other indus

Are You Ready for Change?

By Steve Kane - March 24th, 2023

Continuous improvement is a key strategy for businesses to stay competitive in today’s fast-paced and ever-changing environment. It is a process of making incremental changes to a company’s operations, processes, and produc

Finding Process Improvement Opportunities

By John Knotts - March 17th, 2023

Large organizations that employ process improvement departments and teams often have a list of process improvement projects (typically called the “1 to n list”). These potential projects are prioritized, and practitioners simply ha

The Pearls and Turds of Continuous Improvement

By Kevin Meyer - March 3rd, 2023

My wife and I watched the documentary Stutz for the third or fourth time last weekend. It’s a unique story that always provides something new each time we watch it. The movie features actor Jonah Hill interviewing his therapist P

The Six Types of Working Genius: What Makes for a Great Team & Marriage!

By Ron Pereira - February 27th, 2023

Patrick Lencioni, the author of the best-selling book “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team,” has introduced a new concept called the Six Types of Working Genius in the book by the same title. I recently learned about these diff

Conducting Engaging Virtual Meetings

By John Knotts - February 17th, 2023

In process improvement, it is always best to involve a team. This helps get different points of view and perspectives on a problem. Also, having a team means that you have more people to help you do the work — especially when it

Building Habits to Support Lean Initiatives: A Guide for Business Leaders

By Ron Pereira - January 31st, 2023

In the world of lean and six sigma, there’s a lot of emphasis placed on the importance of habits and processes. After all, a company’s success depends on the collective actions and habits of its employees. Here are some tip

Measuring The Pig In The Python

By John Knotts - January 20th, 2023

Data collection and analysis are critical in process improvement. Data shows progress in process improvement over time and serves as a barometer of process effectiveness and efficiency. Measuring a straightforward process that takes se

Quick Way To Time A Process

By John Knotts - December 16th, 2022

Understanding and measuring process time is one of the most important aspects of process improvement. Much of the waste (muda) in a process causes a process to take longer than it should. When a process takes longer, customers are wait

RIP Steve Player, Budget Destroyer

By Kevin Meyer - November 22nd, 2022

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

Going To The Electronic Gemba

By John Knotts - November 18th, 2022

Going to Gemba — where the work is done — is a pretty simple concept. Go where the work is being performed and watch what is happening. What happens when the process is all online? Where everything that is happening, is o

The Good Karma of Lean

By Kevin Meyer - October 24th, 2022

Our Gemba Academy team was at The Association for Manufacturing Excellence annual conference in Dallas last week, the largest lean conference in the world. By all accounts it was a great success, with over a thousand people excited a

Making Big Problems Into Little Problems

By John Knotts - October 21st, 2022

Over the last couple of months, I have talked about how the Process Improvement Project is different than just a regular Project. This is because, when you start a process improvement project, you do not know what is really happening

Lean, Chess, and Techno-Solutionism

By Kevin Meyer - September 30th, 2022

Those of us somewhat interested in chess, or perhaps curious thanks to blockbuster shows like The Queen’s Gambit, have been following the chaos in the world of grandmaster-level chess, particularly the feud between world champion

A Simple Plan for Starting Your Lean Journey

By Steve Kane - September 23rd, 2022

There are many ways to lead a continuous improvement journey in an organization. A frequent question we get at Gemba Academy is, “Where do I start?” One strategy is to simply start eliminating pain-points in processes. R

How The Project Charter Evolves

By John Knotts - September 16th, 2022

A Project Charter is a contract that clearly explains what the process improvement project is all about, while also clearly stating when the team intends to accomplish the objectives of the project. The Project Charter should be carefu

Root Cause to Solution Identification Simplified

By John Knotts - August 19th, 2022

The one thing that differentiates process improvement projects from regular projects and project management is the methodical way a process improvement practitioner arrives at the root cause and then devises solutions or countermeasure

The Four Types of Measures and Why Each is Important

By John Knotts - July 15th, 2022

Last month, we talked about the Three Most Important Metrics in a Continuous Improvement Culture. They were Workload Volume, Process Cycle Time, and Process Defects. Data is key to process management and improvement and The Continuou

Three Most Important Metrics in a Continuous Improvement Culture

By John Knotts - June 17th, 2022

How many things do you measure in order to tell you how you are doing in business? I have seen organizations that measure everything and anything. Many times, what is being measured is not something the business can do anything abo

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