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 Is …

What is lean?  The following definition is from the Oregon Manufacturing Extension Partnership website, http://www.omep.org: Lean Is A systematic approach for delivering the highest quality, lowest cost products with the shortest lead-times through the relentless elimination of waste. The eights wastes that accompanied this definition include: Overproduction Waiting Transportation Non-Value-Added Processing Excess Inventory Defects Excess Motion Underutilized People It is very […]

A Paradigm Shift To Profitability

Is the “Automotive Industry On the Rebound” or just the companies that make them?  Our local paper, The Toronto Star, reported some very encouraging news today regarding the state of General Motors.  The headline that caught my eye was “A slimmer GM prospers”.  What is more encouraging though is that GM’s recovery is based on a fundamentally new paradigm shift: […]

Achieve Sustainability Through Integration

It’s no secret that lean is much more than a set of tools and best practices designed to eliminate waste and reduce variance in our operations.  I contend that lean is defined by a culture that embraces the principles on which lean is founded.  An engaged lean culture is evidenced by the continuing development and integration of improved systems, methods, […]

Why Twitter?

Background You may be wondering what Twitter has to do with lean or anything even related to manufacturing.  While there may not be a direct correlation to Twitter, the fact that it is still relatively new gave me cause to reflect on what it means to introduce a new system or way of doing things in our organization.  I’m going […]

Lean Paralysis

Lean – Breaking Through Paralysis Significant initiatives, including lean, can reach a level of stagnation that eventually cause the project to either lose focus or disappear altogether.  Hundreds of books have already been written that reinforce the concept that the company culture will ultimately determine the success or failure of any initiative.  A sustainable culture of innovation, entrepreneurial spirit, and continual improvement requires effective leadership to […]

Everyday Greatness

Long nights, extreme snow falls, and sub-zero temperatures are demotivating stressors that can negatively affect employee morale at this time of year, especially during the month of January (Blue Monday).  To re-energize and motivate yourself and your teams, I recommend reading Everyday Greatness by Stephen Covey.  This book is filled with numerous stories, anecdotes, and quotes that are entertaining, inspirational, […]

Discover Toyota’s Best Practice

I have always been impressed by Toyota’s inherent ability to adapt, improve, and embrace change even during the harshest times.  This innate ability is a signature trait of Toyota’s culture and has been the topic of intense study and research for many years. How is it that Toyota continues to thrive regardless of the circumstances they encounter?  While numerous authors […]

Viral Differentiation – Another Great Site

We are still working on our Differentiation Strategies and OEE series.  We decided to share just a glimpse of what we have found to be a uniquely evolved infrastructure within the Excel Development community. For the many Excel – VBA experts that continue to use our Excel Pages as a resource and reference for top notch sites, we have added […]

Differentiation Strategies and OEE (Part II): The Heart of the Matter

An article published in Industry Week magazine comprises part of our pursuit of differentiation strategies and OEE.  This will serve as the topical element of our post for today. Enjoy the article, OEE:  The heart of the matter, and we’ll provide our thoughts and insights as well.  If the above links do not work, you can copy and paste the […]