The 2013 #Masters: Continuous Flow of Player Groups TAGS: 2013 | augusta national golf club | balance | bubba watson | continuous flow | golf | lean blitz consulting | marker | masters | operations | pin flag | process | pull | rory mcilroy | sports | threesomes | waiting 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. The Masters, …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 →

Notre Dame Football and the 14 Principles of The Toyota Way – Part 1 TAGS: bcs | blitz | brian kelly | championship | college football | consulting | gsr | lean | manti te'o | miami | notre dame football | operations | principles | process | six sigma | sports | sun life stadium | toyota way | tyler eifert | zeke motta Tonight, for the first time since the 1989 Sunkist Fiesta Bowl, the University of Notre Dame will vie for college football’s national title, the 2013 BCS National Championship in Miami. …Continue reading →

The Toyota Way Principles and Small Business TAGS: blitz | coffee | consulting | continuous flow | continuous improvement | defects | do it right the first time | kanban | lean | level load | operations | optimization | principles | process | pull | scheduling | six sigma | small business | sports | standardized | total productive maintenance | toyota way | tpm | visual control | waiting | work | workload We’ve finally gotten through all 14 principles from The Toyota Way and what each of them can mean for business operations. But putting them all together can be a challenge, …Continue reading →

What Else Can Lean Implementation Save You? TAGS: batching | blitz | burden | coach | constant | continuous flow | cookie | ergonomics | faster | gemba | go | harder | lean | machine | muda | mura | muri | one piece flow | operations | operator | overburden | physical | principle | process | six sigma | sports | standardized | steps | stop | toy | toyota way | waste | work It’s been written extensively in this space that by reducing the lean process wastes through applying the lean tools you can streamline your operations and make better use of your scarce …Continue reading →

Toyota Way Principle #4: Level Out the Workload TAGS: balanced | blitz | continuous | demand | faster | flexible | flow | fluctuate | harder | hare | haste makes waste | individual | kanban | lean | operations | principle | process | pull | race | resources | six sigma | slow | sports | steady | steps | strategies | tortoise | toyota way | wins | workforce | workload (This is the fifth post in a series about the 14 Principles of The Toyota Way.) As previously stated, the ideal process will have implemented continuous flow featuring time-balanced process …Continue reading →

Toyota Way Principle #3: “Pull” Systems TAGS: baseball | basketball | blitz | concession | continuous flow | excess | floor | footprint | handler | hats | ideal | interval | inventory | jugs | kanban | lean | material | metrics | minimum | multitask | operations | operators | overproduction | perishable | principle | problems | process | pull | quantities | refrigerator | reorder | safety stock | six sigma | space | sports | stands | state | stock | surface | sweet baby ray's | system | toyota way (This is the fourth post looking at the 14 lean principles of The Toyota Way.) The third lean principle of The Toyota Way is a follow-up to the second lean …Continue reading →

Toyota Way Principle #2: Continuous Flow TAGS: 2 | 5S | activities | balancing | blitz | capabilities | continuous | flow | ideal | insulation | lean | load | operations | operators | principle | process | products | services | six sigma | state | stockouts | tools | toyota | waiting | waste | wasteful | way | wip | work in process This image, used as a depiction of a process with minimal waste, was first examined last week with regard to defining what lean is. This timeline shows an ideal state …Continue reading →

The Masters: Concession Stands TAGS: 2012 | abundant | augusta | band | beer | blitz | booster | bubba | cargo | cart | cashier | cheap | checkout | chips | club | concessions | consume | continuous flow | domestic | flow | food | football | golf | green | import | inventory | jacket | kanban | lean | masters | national | operations | patrons | people | pre-packaged | prices | process | pull | quantities | resource | speed | sports | supply | sweets | tournament | waste | watson (This is the final post on the observed business operations of the 2012 Masters at Augusta National Golf Club.) I am absolutely infatuated with the speed at which customers are …Continue reading →

Opening Day at Turner Field TAGS: atlanta | blitz | bourn | braun | braves | brewers | brian | concessions | day | dress | extra | field | gates | glitches | jumbotron | lean | lines | martin | mccann | michael | milwaukee | opening | operations | out of town | patrons | prado | process | rehearsal | ryan | scoreboard | seat | six sigma | sponsorships | sports | turner | waiting | waste I had the opportunity to roll over to Atlanta for Opening Day for the Braves against the Milwaukee Brewers. While I did a lot more game watching than operations observing, …Continue reading →

The 14 Lean Principles from The Toyota Way TAGS: augusta | blitz | club | consensus | continuous | continuous improvement | controls | customers | decisions | develop | employee | engagement | flow | gemba | golf | lean | learning | liker | masters | meier | national | operations | overproduction | partners | philosophy | principles | process | pull | reflection | reliable | six sigma | standardized | suppliers | technology | tools | toyota | understand | visual | way | work When I first started the Lean Blitz blog, I jumped right into the lean wastes and initial discussion of the lean tools. Looking back, what I should have done was …Continue reading →

Oh No! Wastes! Now What Do I Do?: The Lean Tools Primer TAGS: anomalies | batching | beer can | beer cart | blitz | changeover | disk defragmenter | error-proofing | fire extinguisher | gatorade | golf | lean | operations | point of use storage | poka-yoke | process map | processes | real-time | sandwiches | set in order | setup reduction | shadowboard | shine | sidekick | signs | smed | sort | sports | standardize | straighten | superhero | supermarket | sustain | tpm | value stream management | virus scan | visual factory | waste | work instruction All this time we’ve talked about the lean wastes. The problems. The money we’re throwing away. The time we’ve spent poorly. And now we’ve gone out and identified them. Excess motion. …Continue reading →