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 →

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 →

A Case for Kanban and Materials Management TAGS: associate | business | car | consulting | consumable | defects | dollar foolish | excess | fuel | gasoline | glut | inventory | kanban | leak | lean | lean blitz | maintenance | material | motion | operations | penny wise | process | product | pull | ruin | sam's club | save money | six sigma | sports | stockout | storage | supplier | tool | transportation | vehicle | visual | wal-mart | walking | wastes A prominent sports organization in the area (that shall remain nameless) normally uses an outside materials supplier to stock about 200 individual consumable items (paper products, food and drink items, …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 →

Toyota Way Principle #7 – Visual Controls TAGS: adjust | blitz | board | colors | consulting | control | digital | factory | indicator | kanban | label | lean | led | light | lights | limit | lines | metrics | operations | principle | process | rack | readout | shadow | shadowboard | shapes | signage | sounds | speed | sports | stop | stoplight | toyota | visual | way We’ve all seen speed limit signs and pay attention to them at our own discretion. But have you seen a design like this? This speed limit sign features a radar …Continue reading →

Restocking Points and Gas Tanks TAGS: blitz | car | cheap | delivery | excess | fuel | gasoline | gauge | inventory | jug | kanban | lean | low | operations | price | process | pull | reorder | restock | six sigma | sports | stockout An excellent example of restocking/reorder points (with pull or kanban systems) is your car’s gas tank. Here’s why. There’s a maximum amount of product you can stock – when the …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 →

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 →

8 Wastes – Waiting TAGS: cleaning | concession stand | efficiency | kanban | labor balancing | lean | lean wastes | machine downtime | preventative maintenance | sales associates | standardized work | time studies | waiting (This is the third in a series of deeper dives into the 8 lean wastes.) We’ve all seen operators of a concession stand or sales associates on the floor of …Continue reading →