The 2013 #Masters: Use of Temporary Labor TAGS: augusta | birth of a new workforce | club | concessions | core | critical | golf | golf shop | labor | lean | lean blitz consulting | masters | mau | national | noncore | randy hatcher | securitas | security | staffing | temporary Masters Week has finally come and gone! All of the golf world descended upon Augusta, Georgia for April 8-14 for the 2013 Masters golf tournament at Augusta National Golf Club. Now …Continue reading →

The #2013 Masters: On-Site Logistics and Materials Supply TAGS: 2013 | aesthetics | augusta national golf club | box trucks | customer experience | excess motion | golf carts | inventory | lean | lean blitz consulting | logistics | material handling | operations | process | sports | stockouts | temporary | the masters | transportation | waiting | warehousing | wastes | water spider Masters Week is finally here! All of the golf world has descended upon Augusta, Georgia for April 8-14 for the 2013 Masters golf tournament at Augusta National Golf Club. Augusta National …Continue reading →

The 2013 #Masters: Visual Indicators TAGS: 2013 | augusta | closest to the pin | concessions | consulting | controls | golf | hole in one | honey bees | indicators | information | leaderboard | lean blitz | masters | national | nick watney | operations | par 3 contest | process | scoreboards | sports | timers | visual Masters Week is finally here! All of the golf world has descended upon Augusta, Georgia for April 8-14 for the 2013 Masters golf tournament at Augusta National Golf Club. Visual …Continue reading →

The 2013 #Masters: The #Lean Blog Podcast about Lean in Sports TAGS: 2013 | augusta national | bcs | championship | consulting | continuous improvement | david meier | eric ries | golf | jeffrey liker | jim womack | lean blitz | lean blog | major league baseball | mark graban | masters | miami | mlb | norman bodek | notre dame | operations | pace of game | pace of play | podcast | process | sports MP3 File (run time 33:12) Masters Week is finally here! All of the golf world has descended upon Augusta, Georgia for April 8-14 for the 2013 Masters golf tournament at …Continue reading →

Baseball Opening Day 2013! What Are Our Business Processes? TAGS: atv | augusta greenjackets | business | concessions | facility | houston astros | lean blitz consulting | maintenance | major league baseball | mascot | opening day | processes | promotions | texas rangers | tickets Baseball Opening Day has arrived! Tonight the Houston Astros and Texas Rangers will throw out the first pitch of the 2013 MLB season. Banners will be unfurled, famous dignitaries will …Continue reading →

Minnesota Twins Shorten Communication Gaps AND Minimize Beer Keg Transportation TAGS: baseball | beer | columbus blue jackets | concessions | don't stop believing | english | hockey | inventory | journey | karaoke | kegs | language | lean | lean blitz consulting | lines | marc aune | minnesota twins | motion | overpurchasing | singing | spanish | spring training | stockouts | transportation | uni-watch | waiting | waste Here are two quick stories about the Minnesota Twins finding ways to increase efficiency (or productivity, which is probably a better depiction). First, the Twins have enrolled some of their …Continue reading →

Mobile Beer Vendors Cut Customer Wait Times At Sporting Events TAGS: beer | concessions | continuous improvement | customer experience | futbol | lean blitz consulting | leansempai | mobile | operations | process | russell watkins | sempai | six sigma | Soccer | sports | transportation | vendor | waiting | walking | waste Russell Watkins of Sempai Lean Consulting in the UK posted a great photo on Twitter this weekend from a soccer (okay, futbol) game he attended: On the plus side, mobile …Continue reading →

Additional Notes on Efficiency TAGS: baseball reference | billy beane | boston red sox | continuous improvement | defects | dpmo | efficiency | energy conservation | field goal percentage | hall of fame | hoosiers | hr | indiana university | lean blitz | lean blitz consulting | lebron james | mcdonald's | miami heat | moneyball | obp | on base percentage | operations | paul depodesta | process | productivity | rbi | six sigma | sports | ted williams | victor oladipo On Monday we looked at efficiency with field goal shooting percentages for Indiana’s Victor Oladipo and the Miami Heat’s LeBron James as well as points-per-possession efficiency on offense and defense …Continue reading →

LASIK, Eyeglasses, and Eradication vs. Containment TAGS: autonomous management | baseball | bouncy pit | concession | contact lenses | contain | eradicate | eyes | fun zone | glasses | injection molding | kaizen | lasik | lean blitz | oil dry | operations | pa system | problem | process | root cause analysis | six sigma | solving | sports | stand | standardized work The most common types of vision correction solutions are eyeglasses and contact lenses. They compensate for the inability to properly focus our eye’s internal tissues comfortably by providing additional focal …Continue reading →

San Francisco Giants Bobbleheads and Benefits of Supply Meeting Demand TAGS: andrew baggarly | bobblehead | concessions | continuous improvement | csn bay area | demand | goodwill | lean | lean blitz consulting | lines | operations | optimization | process | rob neyer | san francisco giants | sbnation | six sigma | sponsor | sports | supply | tim lincecum | waiting | wastes CSN Bay Area columnist Andrew Baggarly reports some pretty good news for fans of bobbleheads, the San Francisco Giants, and both bobbleheads and the San Francisco Giants: the team is …Continue reading →

The Filth and Disgusting Health Behaviors at Wrigley Field TAGS: 5S | baseball | big league stew | blitz | blog | chicago cubs | cleaning | concessions | consulting | disdain | disgusting | documentation | espn | everywhere | facilities | fan | feces | field | filth | filthy | five whys | gross | hands | health | indiana | inspector | issues | lean | maintenance | major league baseball | management | opening day | operating | operations | playbook | procedures | process | root cause analysis | set in order | shine | sort | sports | stadium | standardize | standards | strategy | sun-times | sustain | tpm | training | ufe | ufe.com | upkeep | urine | visual | wash | with leather | wrigley | yahoo sports I came across this little op-ed piece on ESPN.com’s Playbook about Wrigley Field being the grossest sports stadium in the four major North American sports leagues, sharing a little bit …Continue reading →

Panera Bread Coffee, Visual Management, and Reduced Motion TAGS: annoyance | bagel | blitz | bottle | bottles | coffee | consulting | consumers | continuous | creamer | customers | fridge | half and half | improvement | lean | metal | milk | operations | optimization | panera bread | process | skim | sports | storage | sugar | sweetener | time | workers Here’s an opportunity for Panera Bread to implement a slight change to their “equipment” in order to better serve the customers and the operators. The typical Panera Bread coffee customization …Continue reading →

Melky Cabrera and Why Continuous Improvement Principles Matter TAGS: 2012 | 50 games | 5S | audit | banned substance | baseball | blitz | buster olney | concessions | consulting | continuous improvement | equipment | espn | games | lean | level playing field | london | melky cabrera | mlb | notre dame football | olympics | operations | outfielder | ped | process | ryan braun | safety | san francisco giants | sports | stadium | steroids | testing | ticket sales | toyota way When I first started to write about lean and continuous improvement applications in sports, I was more focused on the business operations – ticket sales, concessions, stadium upkeep, equipment manufacturers, …Continue reading →

Sewing Needles in Sandwiches! TAGS: air canada | airline | airplane | amsterdam | associated press | atlanta | attendant | blitz | british columbia | canada | catering | components | construction | consulting | delta | five whys | flight | fool-proof | implement | lean | minneapolis | needle | operations | packaging | plane | process | process flow diagram | root cause analysis | sandwiches | sealed | seattle | sewing | sports | supplier | tamper-proof | toronto | victoria In an article by the Associated Press, from the “That’s Not What I Ordered” Department”: Air Canada says a passenger found what appears to be a sewing needle in a catered sandwich on board …Continue reading →

ESPN Outside the Lines: “What’s Lurking In Your Stadium Food?” TAGS: ballpark | blitz | cleaning | concession | consulting | defects | department | droppings | espn | food | health | indianapolis | lavigne | lean | mice | negligence | operations | optimization | organization | paula | principles | process | spoil | spoilage | sports | stadium | stand | standardized | super bowl | twitter | violations | what's lurking in your stadium food A couple years back ESPN’s Paula Lavigne came out with a startling report about some of the health department findings in various concession stands at major ballparks and stadiums across …Continue reading →