The Indianapolis 500 and Continuous Improvement TAGS: 500 | al unser | consulting | continuous improvement | dario franchitti | indianapolis | indy | indycar | kaizen | lean | lean blitz | racing | sports | technology | uni-watch The Indianapolis 500, which runs every Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, is nicknamed “the greatest spectacle in racing” but it can also be considered the proving ground for many breakthrough …Continue reading →

Was Elvis Dumervil a Victim of Bad Process, Bad Technology, or Both? TAGS: agent | broncos | contract | defensive end | demaurice smith | denver | denver post | dumervil | elvis | espn | fax machine | lean blitz consulting | magid | mike klis | national letter of intent | nfl | nflpa | operations | overprocessing | photo | process | scholarship | sports | technology | video | waiting In one of the quirkiest NFL contract-related events, we present to you new accidental free agent defensive end Elvis Dumervil, formerly of the Denver Broncos. Dumervil, under contract with the …Continue reading →

A Visit to TEDxColumbiaSC TAGS: blitz | columbia | consulting | continuous improvement | global | grumpy cat | ideas | lean | non-profit | operations | process | sharing | six sigma | south carolina | speakers | sports | spreading | technology | ted | ted conference | ted talks | tedx | tedxcolumbiasc | worth I had the great thrill of attending the TEDx event TEDxColumbiaSC on Monday. For those of you unfamiliar, TED (which stands for Technology, Entertainment, and Design) is a non-profit organization …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 →

Imagery of Poka-Yoke TAGS: cable | computer | consulting | continuous improvement | defects | error | feedback | hdmi | imgur | lean | lean blitz | mistake | operations | orientation | plug | poka | poka-yoke | pokayoke | process | proofing | rca | rework | scrap | sports | stereo | technology | time | tools | toy | usb | wastes | yoke A quick little background on “poka-yoke.” Also written by others as “pokayoke” or “poka yoke,” it all refers to error-proofing or mistake-proofing. And what do those terms mean? Why, making …Continue reading →

2012 Summer Olympics: Fencing Technology Glitch TAGS: 2012 | appeal | attack | blitz | britta | cameron smith | consulting | epee | expedited | fail | federation | fencing | german | germany | gold medal | heiderman | individual | lam | lean | london | mechanism | nbc | official | olympics | operations | organization | piste | playing surface | process | protocol | semifinal | shin | shin a lam | silver medal | six sigma | south korea | sporting | sports | systems | technology | timing | touch | yahoo sports Remember what I wrote about processes needing to supercede systems and technology? Failing to do so meant that a chance to win a gold medal was taken away earlier this …Continue reading →

Toyota Way Principle #8 and Implementing Technology that Helps TAGS: activities | blitz | client | computer | consulting | current | director | expectation | future | identification | lean | manager | manual | map | mapping | money | note | operations | optimize | people | post-it | principle | process | projects | provider | requirement | resource | risk | serve | six sigma | solution | sports | state | technology | time | time study | toyota | waste | way One of my current clients has a two-pronged plan for improving a process that is absorbing a lot of resources (people, time, risk, money). The first prong is to optimize …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 #8: Use The Proper Technology TAGS: activity | at&t | automotive | blackberry | blitz | cell | data | droid | enhance | flip | functions | humans | improve | industry | iphone | lean | medical | operations | phone | principle | process | productivity | robots | service | six sigma | sports | sprint | technology | text | toyota way | verizon | voice | waste (This is a continuation of a series of posts on the principles of The Toyota Way.) Technological advancements over the years have been a part of many breakthrough process improvements. …Continue reading →

The 14 Lean Principles from The Toyota Way TAGS: augusta | blitz | club | consensus | continuous | continuous improvement | controls | customers | decisions | develop | employee | engagement | flow | gemba | golf | lean | learning | liker | masters | meier | national | operations | overproduction | partners | philosophy | principles | process | pull | reflection | reliable | six sigma | standardized | suppliers | technology | tools | toyota | understand | visual | way | work When I first started the Lean Blitz blog, I jumped right into the lean wastes and initial discussion of the lean tools. Looking back, what I should have done was …Continue reading →

Happy April Fools Day! TAGS: april | archive | augusta | baseball | blitz | cbs | cell phones | club | cow | finch | fools | gags | george | godin | golf | graban | illustrated | insights | jokes | lean | leanblog.org | magazine | mark | masters | media | national | operations | plimpton | pranks | process | purple | reality | seth | sidd | six sigma | sports | technology | tournament | virtual First of all, no April Fools pranks being pulled here. I did, however, want to share a couple of links and some programming updates. Mark Graban at LeanBlog.org has a …Continue reading →