Guest Post: A Clown Post About Bryce Harper and Warnings TAGS: alamodome | bryce harper | chavez ravine | consulting | lean | lean blitz | leanblog | mark graban | operations | outfield | process | sports | stitches | wall | warning track | washington nationals Today we have another guest post, this time from fellow blogger Mark Graban of LeanBlog.org, one of the top-read blogs about Lean today. Mark is a Lean consultant in healthcare …Continue reading →

#Kaizen & The Leaky Rowboat TAGS: address | boat | consulting | continuous improvement | eradicate | event | far side | ignore | kaizen | leaky | lean blitz | mindset | operations | problems | row | sports | stopgap You’re in a rowboat that has sprung a leak and is taking in water. You’re rowing to shore but a couple miles away. What are your options? – You can …Continue reading →

A #Lean Look at the #Baseball Jersey Manufacturing Process TAGS: baseball | buttons | error-proofing | inventory | jersey | jerseys | lean | lean blitz consulting | majestic | meredith marakovits | mlb | overprocessing | pants | pockets | production | sports | uniform | waste | yes network | zippers Rob Neyer of SBNation shared this great video from the YES Network on how Majestic manufactures the game jerseys for the New York Yankees. With an eye on the eight …Continue reading →

Lean or Sushi?? TAGS: 5S | ankimo | error-proofing | gemba | genchi cenbutsu | hanedashi | heijunka | hoisin | hokkigai | hoshin kanri | japan | kaikaku | kaizen | kanban | kani kamaboko | kazunoko | kim chee | koi | lean | lean blitz consulting | lean or sushi | mekajiki | mizusumashi | muda | muri | nagara | nama tako | nigiri | octopus | poka-yoke | quiz | saltwater carp | seiketsu | sumitomo | sushi | suzuki | tempura | unagi | yokoten Lean terms regularly applied in Japan don’t always get translated into English when the concepts are used in the United States. Reasons for this include lacking a concise literal translation …Continue reading →

Daytona International Speedway and “Our Safety Protocols Worked” TAGS: car | consulting | crash | daytona | emergency | error-proof | fence | incident | joie chitwood | kyle larson | lean blitz | nascar | nationwide | officials | operations | preventive | process | protocols | race | racing | reactive | safety | sports Yesterday’s Nationwide Series race at Daytona International Speedway was marred by a final lap pileup of cars sprinting to the finish line. One of those cars, driven by #34 Kyle …Continue reading →

Could the Super Bowl Power Outage Have Been Prevented? TAGS: asq | baltimore | beyonce | blackout | continuous improvement | failure modes effects analysis | fmea | football | game | grid | halftime | john priebe | lean blitz consulting | national football league | nfl | operations | outage | power | prevention | problem solving | process | ravens | root cause analysis | san francisco 49ers | six sigma | sports | super bowl | superdome We’ve all been watching the stories fly in over the last 24-36 hours about the power outage at the Superdome during the Super Bowl, so that won’t get rehashed here. …Continue reading →

Brazil Nightclub Fire and Disaster Prevention TAGS: brazil | cbs news | courtney | courtney khondabi | disaster | emergency exits | fire | fire extinguisher | khondabi | kiss | lean blitz consulting | night club | pyrotechnics | smoke   Wow. A horrendous nightclub fire in Brazil has left 230+ patrons dead. This is a complete disaster and horrible situation. My thoughts go out to the victims and their …Continue reading →

Tailgating at the 2013 BCS National Championship in Miami TAGS: 2013 | alabama | bcs | blitz | cell | championship | consulting | continuous improvement | disaster | discover | five whys | florida | football | lean | logistics | lot | miami | notre dame | operations | parking | porta-potty | process | service | six sigma | sports | sun life stadium | tower | trash | verizon | waiting | waste It’s been a week since my beloved Irish were convincingly thwarted in their effort to win their first college football national championship since the Reagan administration, so I feel I …Continue reading →

Some Lean Thoughts From the Road TAGS: 5S | airblade | airlines | aisle | american | atlanta | augusta | baggage | bathroom | blitz | board | business | carry on | chicken wrap | class | consulting | continuous improvement | delta | dyson | el paso | fees | food | georgia | hotel | iron | ironing board | kaizen | lean | luggage | military | mountain | new jersey | newark | operations | pilot precise | process | santa fe | set in order | sink | soap | sports | straighten | texas | ticketing | transparency | window | zone Having spent significant time on the road the last month or so, I’ve come across many more opportunities for Kaizen or places where Lean thinking is applied well. ~~~~~~~ Airport …Continue reading →

Sprinklers Spring Up During NFL Game TAGS: blitz | breakdown | consulting | continuous improvement | error-proofing | game | input | lean | miami dolphins | nfl | november | operations | poka-yoke | process | seattle seahawks | six sigma | sports | sprinklers | sun life stadium | technology A couple weekends ago at Sun Life Stadium in Miami, the Seattle Seahawks were battling the Miami Dolphins in a hard-fought one-score game…when this happened. Whoops. Many stadiums (if not …Continue reading →

Voting Booth Machine Defective!! TAGS: 2012 | barack | blitz | broken | consulting | defect | election | error | lean | machine | mitt | obama | operations | poll | president | process | romney | six sigma | sports | touch screen | vote | voting | waste Yesterday a video was posted online of someone trying to use the electronic voting booth machine with some potential unintended consequences.   That could be a big problem. Of course, …Continue reading →

Lean Oops!: Slightly Political Edition TAGS: barack obama | car | continuous improvement | debt collection | epson | fax | fax machine | firefighter | kid stuck in toy machine | lean | lean blitz consulting | made in china | made in usa | mitt romney | oops | operations | parking | politics | printer | process | six sigma | sports | walmart | water fountain As is a theme that I hope continues, here are some more Lean Oops! scenarios courtesy of contributors to Reddit.

Football Fans Falling from Stadium Upper Decks TAGS: alcohol | answers | arrowhead | atlanta falcons | barriers | baseball | blitz | chick-fil-a | chiefs | colorado rockies | consulting | continuous improvement | coors field | death | drinking | escalator | facilitate | fall | field | football | georgia dome | harness | hazards | houston | kansas city | kickoff | lean | nc state | nets | operations | osha | process | reliant stadium | safety | sports | stadium | tennessee | texans | texas rangers | upper deck | walls The 2012 football season was barely a week old when two fatal falls from stadium upper decks took place. First, a fan fell from a fifth-floor escalator at Reliant Stadium …Continue reading →

Entries from the Lean Memes Contest TAGS: 5 whys | 5S | aliya mustafina | allie brosh | approach | asian father | bad | batman | but we've always done it this way | catch careers | cheezburger | christina kach | consulting | contest | continuous improvement | cousin | creepy little girl | dating site | detect | eel | employee | execution | first world problems | five whys | fonzie | graban | gymnast | half | happy cat | high expectations | hyperbole | improvement | jidoka | kaizen event | key | koala | lame joke | lame pun raccoon | lean | lean blitz | leanblog | leanmemes | manufacturing lines | mark | meme | memegenerator | memes | moa | moar | murderer | olympics | operations | overly attached girlfriend | pdca | pdsa | phone | plan do check act | plan do study adjust | point of use storage | poka-yoke | priest | priorities | process | quickmeme | root cause analysis | safety | set in order | seven | shine | shotgun approach | signal | six sigma | sort | soviet russia | suggestion box | utility belt | value stream management Lean consultant, author, and notable public speaker Mark Graban of LeanBlog.org has started a web collection of Lean-related memes at Lean Memes. He’s hosting a contest for his readers to …Continue reading →

Spike TV’s Bar Rescue and Optimizing Restaurants and Nightclub Operations TAGS: 5S | act | bar rescue | business | check | cleaning | consulting | do | effort | food | genchi genbutsu | implementation | improvement | jon taffer | kaizen | kanban | lean blitz | lean tools | operations | pdca | plan | process | set in order | shine | six sigma | sort | spike tv | sports | staff | stress test | transformation Happy Labor Day! Between baseball games, grilling out, running, and kicking off the college football season I was introduced to a show on Spike TV called Bar Rescue, and I’m …Continue reading →