Gemba Academy

HP Printer Pokayoke Example

By Jon Miller - December 30th, 2008

This is a new HP C7250 printer we purchased a few weeks ago. It’s quite the desktop machine, with built in copier-scanner. Setting up the wireless was a skosh frustrating but all in all a great product. While installing the ink c

Yaruki: The Will to Win Even in Tough Times

By Jon Miller - December 28th, 2008

RC Bhargava, the Chairman, Maruti Suzuki India recounts the story of Maruti Suzuki and how the company overcame several challenges over the past decades by building a team-based management culture. In an India Times article titled Thin

Let’s Do Kaizen, Not Kaizan

By Jon Miller - December 23rd, 2008

It doesn’t really matter how you pronounce the Japanese word for continuous improvement through total involvement and a focus on the elimination of waste, variability and overburden. The word is kaizen, but you can call it kaizan

Full Court Press Time

By Ron Pereira - December 21st, 2008

“The heights by great men reached and kept, were not obtained by sudden flight. But they, while their companions slept, were toiling upward in the night.” — Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Things are going to slow down f

Answers to Lean Thinking Crossword Puzzle #1

By Jon Miller - December 20th, 2008

Spoiler alert! The answers to Lean Thinking Crossword Puzzle #1 are below. Here are the questions. Seven down is a bit of a pun, with the American spelling of cheque. Across 1. A pillar creates this between man and machine 2. Absolutel

Lean Thinking Crossword Puzzle #1

By Jon Miller - December 19th, 2008

Here is a quiz we used as a review of lean knowledge for the team on the Gemba tour at the end of the week. Some of these are easy and others are tricky. If you figure it out go ahead and put the answers in the comments section. To

Seek and Destroy (Muda)

By Ron Pereira - December 18th, 2008

(electric guitar plays) Alright! Scanning the scene in the city tonight We’re looking for you to start up a fight There’s an evil feeling in our brains But it’s nothing new you know it drives us insane. Back in the Da

Field Report from Gemba Tour #62, Part 4

By Jon Miller - December 18th, 2008

Today was day-long visit to a company who is 13 years on their lean journey. The many valuable points of learning were a mixed bag of lean principles, practical advice and seeing systems in action. We saw many world class examples of l

Field Report from Gemba Tour #62, Part 3

By Jon Miller - December 17th, 2008

Today was the Toyota plant tour day of our Japan Kaikaku Experience #62. I noticed a lot more things made of Creform, both inside and outside of the factory. Outside there was a bizarre blue trellis for vines to grow on, a conspicuous

Field Report from Gemba Tour #62, Part 2

By Jon Miller - December 16th, 2008

I have seen the future of logistics, and it is green. Today we visited a distribution center that supplies Toyota. The lean logistics system supports multiple deliveries to the assembly plant each hour using mixed loads, milk runs, kan

5 Characteristics of a Successful Person

By Ron Pereira - December 15th, 2008

I was recently asked to describe the key characteristics of a successful leader/person. Here’s my take on it. 1. Hustle Nothing beats hustle. I don’t care how smart someone is, in my opinion, if they’re not willing to work their

Field Report from Gemba Tour #62, Part 1

By Jon Miller - December 15th, 2008

The last few weeks haven’t been very productive ones for writing blog articles due to travel between the US, UK and Japan. However the interaction with clients and changes in scenery have been good stimuli for future article idea

Bathroom Lean

By Ron Pereira - December 9th, 2008

Here’s a fun question for all you male lean thinkers – in order to streamline the morning bathroom practice of showering, shaving, and brushing your teeth – what is the “leanest” way to go about it. Do eac

Japan Airlines CEO Comments on Big 3 CEO’s

By Ron Pereira - December 9th, 2008

I first saw this on John Hunter’s blog. It’s a little over 2 minutes and definitely worth viewing… especially in light of recent events in America.

If Blame Helped Solve Problems…

By Jon Miller - December 5th, 2008

…the interview with Newt Gingrich on Fox News would be a brilliant way to get the Detroit automotive companies out of the trouble they are in. Here is Newt Gingrich taking the bait and laying the blame, making a troubling and com

$34,000,000,000

By Jon Miller - December 2nd, 2008

Sigh. Chrysler wants $7 billion. They asked Congress for this taxpayer money in a 14-page document. I bet they could do it for $500 million if they only took the time to give the PDCA wheel a few turns and put their proposal on a singl

How to Create Meaningful Safety Graphs

By Ron Pereira - December 2nd, 2008

Creating meaningful charts and graphs for safety related issues can be hard, not to mention confusing. It doesn’t have to be. In this article I will share a technique that may help bring some clarity to the situation. The Wrong Appro

PDCA is About Not Telling Lies

By Jon Miller - December 1st, 2008

This circle doesn’t lie. In fact one could say that used properly, it is a truth-generator. In a section discussing problem solving, experimentation and PDCA, the book Extreme Toyota by Emi Osono, Norihiko Shimizu and Hirotaka Ta

With Competitors Like These, Who Needs a Winning Business Strategy?

By Jon Miller - November 27th, 2008

Larry, Curly and Moe go to Washington image credit: Wall Street Journal As we are grateful this Thanksgiving holiday for all hard diligent public servants, executives and working men and working women who do their best to keep our econ

Thankful

By Ron Pereira - November 26th, 2008

I’m sitting here at my PC working on a little “project” I can’t wait to tell you all about. In fact, I’ll probably be sitting here well into the morning… but I am definitely not complaining. Anyhow

The Spinning Lady: Part 2

By Ron Pereira - November 25th, 2008

It’s always interesting how a post that takes me 48 seconds to write can create so much discussion! As of right now there have been 28 29 comments left on the spinning lady post… most explaining how she is spinning one wa

It’s a Lousy Time to Implement Lean

By Jon Miller - November 25th, 2008

Author, teacher and our friend Bob Emiliani from the Center for Lean Business Management pointed pointed out an inaccuracy in my post from Sunday on how the Big 3 automotive companies should follow Toyota’s path through bankruptc

The Spinning Lady

By Ron Pereira - November 24th, 2008

OK, are you up for a challenge? If so, which way is the lady spinning: clockwise or counter-clockwise? Leave your answer in the comments if you want to play. And let me just say… don’t be so sure about your answer.

The Big 3 Must Follow in Toyota’s Footsteps to Survive

By Jon Miller - November 23rd, 2008

The Big 3 automotive companies must follow in Toyota’s footsteps to survive. There are three things that need to happen for General Motors, the Ford Motor Company and Chrysler to avoid becoming case studies in how not to run glob

Helping our Friend from Down Under: Part Two

By Ron Pereira - November 21st, 2008

If you had one story to “sell” lean or six sigma to over 1,000 employees what would you say? Well, that’s precisely the situation our friend Gail is facing Down Under. To get the full history of Gail’s story please check out pa

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