Lean

Management Approach – Beyond Management by Walking Around

4 August 2010 0 comments

Most executives pride themselves on being connected to their business, no matter how large. They perform site visits to far flung operations with lots of small talk, hand shaking, and conference room meetings. It often looks like the practices decribed in this article and this one which is better.   In my experience, these activities can [...]

Read the full article →

Lean Buzz – FOTM?

2 June 2010 0 comments

The increasing buzz around Lean makes me worry that it is headed for FOTM status (that is flavor of the month or maybe year)?  It looks eerily like the situation around Six Sigma about 5 years ago.  The increasing buzz about Lean seems to lack much understanding of how it might be used specifically in [...]

Read the full article →

Mar 15: PR Features SAP Use in Porsche Lean Plant

15 March 2010 0 comments

Yahoo Finance reports a link to some SAP market materials crowing about use of SAP to support Porsche’s new Lean plant for the Cayenne and Panamera.  The Yahoo note has a link to the video.  There are some nice shots of the factory but no details about how SAP actually supports the Lean practices highlighted.  [...]

Read the full article →

Lean Definition – Version 1.0

12 March 2010 1 comment

The term Lean is used inconsistently and even the basic definition seems to have become pretty confused (the wiki definition is here).  Some people view it as synonymous with kaizen events.  Others with value stream mapping and waste elimination.  Many long time practitioners of Lean cannot fathom the use of it outside the factory, but [...]

Read the full article →

Lean and Six Sigma Wisdom in Einstein Quote on Measurement

2 February 2010 0 comments

I have now spent several hours attempting to trace attribution for this quote / sign. It is quoted widely, including in Bogle’s book referenced in an NPR interview. It may have been in his office at some earlier point, but I now view it as unlikely to have been in his Princeton office near the [...]

Read the full article →

Why Lean and ERP?

29 January 2010 0 comments

In many years of improving companies of many types, I have always found that alignment of the supporting technology platforms was critical to implement sustainable change.  Yet, many Lean people I meet are really hostile toward systems.  I empathize with the general sentiment.  Many systems do seem to fight the Lean practices we hope to [...]

Read the full article →