The Augusta Riverhawks and the Case for Quality TAGS: augusta | bob kerzner | breakdown | cease | cost of poor quality | cost of quality | hockey | ice | james brown arena | league | lean | lean blitz consulting | minor | operations | riverhawks | sports | system | total productive maintenance | tpm As reported in March, the ice maintenance system at James Brown Arena in Augusta broke down and forced the Augusta RiverHawks minor league hockey team to relocate their games to …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 →

Costly Ice System Problems Could Mean Augusta Riverhawks Hockey Team Flies Away TAGS: augusta riverhawks | autonomous management | consulting | critical equipment | hockey | ice | james brown arena | lean blitz | maintenance | melting | operations | program | southern professional hockey league | system | total productive maintenance The Augusta Riverhawks, an independent minor league hockey team in the Southern Professional Hockey League, were forced to vacate its final home games of the season because of a breakdown of …Continue reading →

The Chicken Wing Shortage and Super Bowl Week TAGS: changeover | chicken wing | consulting | continuous improvement | darren rovell | demand | espn | lean | lean blitz | operations | optimization | peak season | process | rumor | shortage | smed | sports | super bowl | temporary staffing | wings There is a rumor, as seems to be every year for Super Bowl week, that we are suffering from a shortage of chicken wings. While it’s apparently true that the …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 →

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.

Preparing Dublin’s Aviva Stadium for Notre Dame-Navy Football TAGS: american | aviva stadium | college | dublin | everett golson | football | goalposts | gridiron | ireland | lady gaga | lean | lean blitz consulting | navy | notre dame | operations | pitch | process | quarterback | six sigma | Soccer | sports | transformation | university | video In one of this college football generation’s most unique experiences, the University of Notre Dame will take on the U.S. Naval Academy tomorrow morning in Dublin, Ireland at Aviva Stadium. …Continue reading →

Lean Oops!: More Internet Images! TAGS: airplane | blame | ceiling fan | cookie | door handle | duct tape | flowchart | handicapped | handles | imgur | lean | lean blitz consulting | lean meme | leanblog.org | light | mark graban | meme | oil field | operations | painting | parking lot | process | reddit | reddit.com | redditor | sandwich | sign | six sigma | space | sports | staple | subway | subways | switch | there i fixed it | thereifixedit | vigor With as much content that can be found at Reddit.com and ThereIFixedIt.com, this might have to become a regular weekend feature. I hope duct tape isn’t a commonly-used repair tool …Continue reading →

The Hassle of Rolling Loose Change TAGS: accuracy | augusta | bank of america | banking | branch | break | change | coins | coinstar | columbia | count | dime | efficiency | error-proofing | fee | georgia | lean blitz | lean blitz consulting | loose | machines | maintenance | nickel | operations | penny | poka-yoke | process | quarter | sleeves | south carolina | sports | teller | time savings Rolling loose change is a pretty annoying practice. It’s extremely time consuming, to the point that I simply collect coins in a large tin (or large plastic Coke bottle bank) …Continue reading →

Lean Oops! Random Stuff on the Internet TAGS: allen wrench | blitz | consulting | continuous improvement | convenient | dispenser | failblog | fix | i can has cheezburger | lean | machine | operations | optimization | packing | postage | postal service | process | salad | soap | sports | tape | there i fixed it | usps | vending So from time to time I check out reddit.com, the “Front Page of the Internet.” A community of readers and commenters post interesting (and mostly funny) things they find around …Continue reading →

Using Toyota Way Principle #8 on Everyday Technology TAGS: a6 | audi | blackberry | blitz | box | capability | capacity | car | cell | consulting | cost of ownership | curve | droid | economy | fuel | glass | htc | iphone | lean | lg | logo | maintenance | motorola | nokia | operations | otter | palm | people | phone | principle | prioritize | priority | process | purchase | purpose | quattro | reliability | repair | six sigma | specialized | sports | technology | test | tested | toyota | treo | upkeep | vehicle | way (This is a continuation of a series of posts reviewing the principles of The Toyota Way.) As previously mentioned, the eighth principle from The Toyota Way states: “Use only reliable, …Continue reading →

Toyota Way Principle #5 – Identifying Problems TAGS: 5 | andon | baseline | blitz | comparison | engines | error | fix | human | implementation | jidoka | judgment | lean | lights | mechanical | operations | perfect | principle | problems | process | production | quality | scenario | service | six sigma | soon | sports | standards | stop | system | toyota | way As previously posted, the fifth principle from The Toyota Way: “Build a culture of stopping to fix problems, to get quality right the first time.” In order to stop and …Continue reading →

Toyota Way Principle #5: Stopping to Fix Problems TAGS: better | blitz | broken | car | cheaper | culture | easier | five | fix | lean | light | operations | principle | problems | process | repair | six sigma | sports | tail | tape | temporary | toyota | way It really pains me to see cars tape up body fixtures like broken tail lights. It looks so tacky AND fails to provide suitable coverage and protection. Sure, it’s a …Continue reading →

GolfNow and Service Process Breakdown TAGS: analysis | annoying | blitz | cause | cell phone | convenience | customer | fees | florida | golf | golf channel | golfnow | greens | lean | navigation | now | operations | orlando | phone | process | representative | root | round | savings | service | sports | telephone | time | twosome | waiting | waste One of the benefits of using Orlando, Florida-based GolfNow is online booking of rounds of golf at many courses around the world at discounted fares. For the convenience of online …Continue reading →

The Masters: Mowing the Fairways TAGS: 2012 | angc | augusta | blade | blitz | bubba watson | cart | club | communication | cut | fairway | golf | grass | hydraulic | leak | lean | maintenance | masters | mow | mower | national | operations | patron | practice | process | sharpen | six sigma | tennis ball | tractor | training When the patrons begin leaving Augusta National Golf Club during the week of the Masters and when the final groups of golfers finish up their rounds or work at the …Continue reading →