Seasons Greetings

This year has been filled with many new experiences, hard times, great times, and many opportunities for learning.  While some may prefer to see this year pass sooner than later, 2009 is hopefully a year that presented many new opportunities and even greater challenges. As lean practitioners, we learn to appreciate failure from a different perspective than most people would enjoy.  The focus is not the […]

OEE: Take the Hit

The simplicity of measuring and calculating OEE is compounded by the factors that ultimately influence the end result.  Because the concept of OEE can be readily embraced by most employees, it is easy for many people to get involved in the process of making improvements. Unfortunately the variables involved with OEE, like those of many other measurement systems, fall under scrutiny.  […]

Lean Culture

Background Being in business for many years is, and can be, both a blessing and a curse.  On one hand, the company has established itself and is well rooted in its chosen industry.  On the other hand, it has established and well rooted “behaviors” built on a culture that have stood the test of time.  This could be for better or worse. […]

OEE and Morale

Is employee morale impacting your OEE?  If so, how much of a concern is it?  As we wrote in one of our recent posts,  “Perhaps the greatest “external” influence on current manufacturing operations is the rapid collapse of the automotive industry in the midst of our current economic “melt down”.  The changes in operating strategy to respond to this new crisis are bound to have an effect on OEE […]