#EarthDay 2013 and Conservation of Resources TAGS: 2013 | baseball | conservation | consulting | earth day | hot dogs | inventory | lean | lean blitz | operations | sourcing | sports | strategic | transportation | waiting Today is Earth Day 2013, and the Earth Day mission is to promote actions toward environmental protection and conservation. The focus of Earth Day 2013 is The Face of Climate Change. …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 →

Where I Got My Start In Lean (and Sports) TAGS: automotive industry | autonomous management | consulting | continuous improvement | dannon | dr. robert jacobs | eaton corporation | engineer | georgia | indiana university | kaizen | kelley school of business | l.a.m.e. | lean | lean as misguidedly executed | lean blitz | lean in name only | mark fougerousse | ohio | operations | optimization | plastic engineering technical services | pontiac coil | problem solving | process | root cause analysis | sandy cutler | six sigma | solving efeso | south carolina | sports | thomson plastics | tri-state university | trine | wastes I don’t often get to tell my story of how I got started with Lean, but more frequently I’m asked about how I’ve gotten into and what I’m doing with …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 →

Modell’s Gets Burned on Tebow Jerseys and Linsanity TAGS: blitz | ceo | consulting | continuous improvement | darren rovell | domestic | espn | excess production | jeremy lin | jersey | lean | mark sanchez | merchandise | modell's | new york jets | new york knicks | operations | overseas | popular | process | production | six sigma | sports | tim tebow ESPN’s Darren Rovell shared an enlightening article today about the gambles taken by the sports merchandise store Modell’s in New York. Between “betting big” on Linsanity by ordering a slew …Continue reading →

The High Cost of Penny Production TAGS: 26 | augusta | blitz | cent | chemistry | consulting | continuous | copper | costs | currency | georgia | improvement | lean | liz hill | mint | molten | nbc | nickel | operations | penny | process | processes | production | reduce | six sigma | sports | treasury | united states | value | zinc In recent years I’ve heard rumors that the production costs and materials of a penny are greater than the value of the penny itself. In high school chemistry I recall …Continue reading →

Long Lead Times on Johnny Football Texas A&M Jerseys TAGS: 2 | adidas | aggie | aggies | blitz | bulk | college | consulting | continuous improvement | darren | espn | flexibility | football | jersey | johnny | late | lean | lsu | major league baseball | manziel | margins | mlb | national football league | nfl | nickname | operations | optimization | ordering | overseas | process | revenue driver | rovell | shipping | six sigma | sports | texas a&m Texas A&M’s redshirt freshman quarterback Johnny Manziel has certainly earned his nickname “Johnny Football” for both his passing and running abilities in leading his school to a solid season of …Continue reading →

Lean Tools: Standardized Work and Best Practices TAGS: 14 principles | activities | best practices | consulting | continuous improvement | cycle | excess | house of lean | lean | lean blitz | maximize | motion | operations | process | production | quality | repeatability | safety | six sigma | sports | standardized work | takt time | toyota way | waiting | walking | waste It’s been a long time since I’ve jumped into describing the Lean tools – I broke away to focus on the 14 principles of The Toyota Way, because they were …Continue reading →

Politics and (the Lack of) Root Cause Analysis TAGS: 2012 | ad hominem | agenda | analyze | answer | answers | barack | belief | birth certificate | campaign | candidate | change | conservative | continuous | control | credibility | deficit | define | definition | democrat | dmaic | election | fallacy | fiscal | five whys | foundation | government | identify | implementation | improve | improvement | lean blitz consulting | liberal | measure | mitt | nominee | obama | operations | optimization | pdsa | plan do study adjust | platform | policy | politics | president | problem | process | public | republican | romney | root cause analysis | service | six sigma | slogan | social | sports | tax return As a continuous improvement practitioner, I have a significant disdain for politics. By politics, in this case I’m referring to the democratic elections and campaigning by individuals running for public …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 →

Lean is a Revenue Driver TAGS: american | asq | black belt | blower | briggs | certification | constrained | continuous improvement | customer | cycle time | defect | driver | eliminate | engineer | flywheel | lean | lean blitz consulting | lean is | machines | margin | operator | processes | project | quality | revenue | schedule | six sigma | society | standardization | stratton | thomson plastics | time studies | tonnage Lean is obviously a lot more than just elimination of waste activities in processes. It has the power to impact other areas of operations. One of the projects I managed …Continue reading →

Lean is Marketing TAGS: business901 | communicate | customer | defects | four | inventory | joe dager | lean | lean blitz consulting | marketing | needs | operations | overproduction | p's | place | price | processing | product | promotion | pull system | scrap | sports | toyota way | waiting The essence of marketing is the identification of needs a customer aims to have satisfied and providing a solution that will satisfy those needs within four specific categories – the …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 →

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 →