PI: Discovery to Application – 1900 years

Mathematicians celebrate PI day on March 14 to honour of the number 3.14.  PI day was founded by Physicist Larry Shaw at the San Fransisco Exploratorium on March 14, 1989. Greek mathematician Archimedes of Syracuse (287 to 212 B.C.) was the first to calculate the value of PI, however, its use became wide-spread only after it was adopted by Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler in 1737. Concept to […]

Brilliant Printing Technology

Research and development take problem solving to whole new level where solutions have yet to be discovered and are often only imagined.  I am impressed by the relentless efforts of research teams that continue to develop and give rise to the emergence of  life saving, innovative technologies. As our population ages and “baby boomers” enter into their retirement years, the […]

What did you expect? Benchmarking and Decisions – for better or worse.

What did you expect? Benchmarking & Decisions – for better or worse I recognize that benchmarking is not a new concept.  In business, we have learned to appreciate the value of benchmarking at the “macro level” through our deliberate attempts to establish a relative measure of performance, improvement, and even for competitor analysis.  Advertisers often use benchmarking as an integral component of their marketing strategy. […]

Integrated Waste: Lather, Rinse, Repeat

Admittedly, it has been a while since I checked a shampoo bottle for directions, however, I do recall a time in my life reading:  Lather, Rinse, Repeat.  Curiously, they don’t say when or how many times the process needs to be repeated. Perhaps someone can educate me as to why it is necessary to repeat the process at all – other than “daily”.  I […]

Thinking Outside of the Box

I am always intrigued to find evidence that supports the application of lean outside the realm of manufacturing.  This morning I was pleasantly surprised to find an article published by Bill Wake titled “Lean Manufacturing and Software” where Bill discusses software development from a lean perspective.  Even if you aren’t a programmer or software developer, the article offers some interesting […]

Lean – A Race Against Time

Background If “Time is Money”, is it reasonable for us to consider that “Wasting Time is Wasting Money?” Whether we are discussing customer service, health care, government services, or manufacturing – waste is often identified as one of the top concerns that must be addressed and ultimately eliminated.  As is often the case in most organizations, the next step is an attempt to […]

Lean – Burnout, Apathy, and Pareto’s Law

The Premise:  Pareto’s Law The late Josheph Juran introduced the world to Pareto’s Law, aptly named after Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto.  Many business and quality professionals alike are familiar with Pareto’s law and often refer to it as the 80 / 20 rule.  In simple terms, Pareto’s Law is based on the premise that 80% of the effects stem from 20% […]

1 Way to Exceed Expectations

Although I’m still not sure that it’s possible to exceed customer expectations, something happened last night that may have given me a slightly different perspective on this matter.  In November of 2009 I published an article titled, “10 Ways to Enhance Customer Satisfaction“, on the very premise that the best we could do was enhance the customer’s experience based on […]

Reality Undercover

One of the few Reality TV programs I enjoy watching is Undercover Boss on CBS.  This program exemplifies all the reasons why it is so important for executive leadership and senior management to keep in touch with the front lines of the company.    As a lean practitioner I consider the culture of the company to be the defining difference […]

Scorecards and Dashboards

I recently published, Urgent -> The Cost of Things Gone Wrong, where I expressed concern for dashboards that are attempting to do too much.  In this regard, they become more of a distraction instead of serving the intended purpose of helping you manage your business or processes.  To be fair, there are at least two (2) levels of data management […]