Customer Value is the Primary Goal of #Lean – Never Forget It TAGS: cleanliness | consulting | continuous | cost savings | customer | improvement | lean | lean blitz | mia | national league of families | pow | pow-mia | processes | six sigma | start | value The National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia was initiated by an uprising of servicemen’s families during the Vietnam War who demanded that action be taken …Continue reading →

Where I Got My Start In Lean (And Sports) – Part 2 TAGS: album | atlanta braves | colorado springs sky sox | concert | concession stand | consulting | continuous | derek schiller | detroit | eaton corporation | elmore sports group | engineer | improvement | indiana university | kelley mba | lean blitz | mascot | mike plant | operations | process | san antonio missions | silver hawks | south bend | sports | sports & entertainment academy | swoop | time study | web (To see Part 1 of Where I Got My Start In Lean click here. This is Part 2.) As I indicated in the prior post, I ended up in both …Continue reading →

“We Don’t Have Time for Kaizen” TAGS: bail | benefits | better | blitz | change | consulting | continuous | emergencies | event | fix | improvement | kaizen | leaks | lean | no time | operations | process | production | sports | water In a past career stop, I was in a manufacturing production meeting providing a recap of a failed Kaizen event held on the shop floor the day earlier. The event …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 →

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 →

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 →

Toyota Way Principle #14: Become a Learning Organization TAGS: balboa | blitz | classroom | consulting | continuous | improvement | lean | learning | operations | organization | perfect | philadelphia | principle | process | reflect | reflection | relentless | rocky | six sigma | sports | stairs | steps | teach | toyota way (This is part of a series looking at the 14 Principles of The Toyota Way.) This is the final principle, the one that ties the previous thirteen together. No organization …Continue reading →

A Lamborghini & Process vs. System TAGS: activities | adding | blitz | bolster | capabilities | consulting | continuous | difference | driving | fancy | flow | gold | hammer | improvement | information | lamborghini | lean | management | metaphor | operations | optimization | optimize | procedures | process | productivity | scenarios | significant | six sigma | sports | subaru | success | system | tools | value | waste | wheel I have encountered multiple scenarios in my career where upper management was under the impression that putting in fancy new systems and technology would dramatically boost productivity and the quickness …Continue reading →

The Big Oops with the Barclays Center TAGS: astros | bank | barclays | blitz | brooklyn | center | ceo | consulting | continuous | diamond | embarrassment | england | enron | europe | field | fixing | forfeit | franchise | houston | improvement | introduce | jay-z | lean | lite | maid | manipulating | miller | minute | move | naming | nba | nets | new jersey | new york times | operations | optimization | park | participants | pictures | process | rate | resign | rights | robert | scandal | six sigma | sports | stadium | supervisor | team You know the phrases “too many chefs in the kitchen” and “too many Chiefs, not enough Indians” or “a camel is a horse designed by a committee?” Too many people …Continue reading →

Continuous Improvement and Our Founding Fathers TAGS: 1776 | american | blitz | brats | britain | burgers | change | consulting | continuous | declaration | destination | england | fathers | founding | freedom | george | hancock | history | improvement | independence | jefferson | john | journey | july | lean | management | nation | operations | process | revolutionary | six sigma | sports | states | tax | taxation | thomas | united | war | washington Happy Independence Day 2012 everybody! In between bites of our burgers or brats and swigs of beer, let’s also take the time to thank all of those who have made …Continue reading →

How Do We Establish A Standardized Process? TAGS: best | blitz | communicate | communication | continuous | customer | documentation | documented | implement | improvement | lean | measure | necessary | note | operations | optimization | paper | post-it note | practice | predict | process | project | require | simplified | six sigma | sports | standardized | sticky | time-based | work I’ve posted a lot recently about the importance of implementing a standardized process – the ability to audit and measure, the ease of implementing improvements across the board, establishment of …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 →

“Because I Said So” is Destructive TAGS: answer | ask | associates | because i said so | blitz | child | communication | continuous | curiosity | curious | embarrassment | enlighten | five whys | follow | golden | grow | handbook | honest | ideas | improvement | interest | lean | learn | management | new | operations | parents | process | punishment | question | questions | rulebook | rules | scapegoat | shame | silence | six sigma | sports | teamwork | toddler | trust | why I had a conversation with a friend this weekend who was telling me about his little boy. He’s enlightened by his son’s curiosity and ability to ask questions and interest …Continue reading →

State of the Lean Blitz Blog: April 2012 TAGS: activities | alignment | apparel | atlanta | audience | augusta | baseball | baseball winter meetings | basketball | bat | ben hill | blitz | blue | braun | braves | championship | club | cnbc.com | columbus | comments | communication | concessions | consultants | continuous | customer | darren rovell | david schoenfield | dayton | e-book | elmore | email | espn.com | experience | facebook | five whys | followers | football | georgia | giveaway | golf | google | greenjackets | group | hot dog | improvement | jackets | jersey | knowledge | lean | locker room | manufacturing | mascot | masters | merchandise | minor league | moneyball | movie | national | ncaa | notre dame | ohio | operations | pin flag | plus | principles | process | questions | respond | ryan | satisfaction | season | service | seth godin | silver hawks | six sigma | sneezers | Soccer | south bend | sports | sportsbiz | steroids | subscribers | subscriptions | sweetspot | t-shirt | tools | tournament | toyota way | twitter | waste | wastes I figured that since the blog is between 5-6 months old now that I provide a “state of the blog” address – what has changed since the blog first kicked …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 →