One of the key elements on my American Lean Weekday podcast is the weekly interviews that I conduct with companies on their Lean Journey. These companies are from various industries and are all different sizes. I have interviewed leaders from family-owned businesses to multi-national organizations. This week I speak with a contract manufacturer in Longmont, …
Contract Manufacturer Sees Huge Savings from first Kaizen Read More »
Cybercriminals are becoming more interested in small and medium-sized businesses. Why? They are viewed as vulnerable but still valuable targets. They are being attacked by evermore sophisticated attacks resulting in trillions of dollars spent in defending themselves. Let’s talk about cybersecurity for SMB manufacturers. Governments and small businesses believe that they’re protected by anti-virus software. …
What is the KPI buffet? It is measuring so many KPI’s that you can’t tell the direction of the company. I consulted with a company measuring 30 different KPI’s when they began their Lean journey. When we worked on their Lean Management System, one of the pillars became to measure what matters. They took that …
Do you have a culture of innovation? Let’s talk about it and find out. In the book Intrapreneuring in Action, the authors developed 19 traits of companies that have a culture of innovation. This will be part one of a five-part series. I’ve begun this entire intrapreneur series because some companies have to pivot because …
For anyone successful in leading people, they learned it somewhere. Chances are, they had a role model they could follow. Here are four ways to become a role model. I heard an interview with Chris Winton the author of C-4 leadership on another podcast mention that when he moved up through the ranks; it is …
Industry 4.0 is being accelerated by what is happening during the pandemic. If you or any of your employees would like to learn about the growing need, learn about what MSSC has to offer! Upskill for industry 4.0. CPT 4.0 is a nationally portable, industry-led program that prepares and certifies individuals for career pathways in …
Samsung 5G speeds are being adopted more quickly every year. As I have mentioned before in this Industry 4.0 blog, 5G speeds will provide the backbone for automated factories and that is becoming more of a reality every day. Believe it or not, the discussion around 6G speeds is already beginning. It is estimated by …
A few weeks ago, I spent a series of blogs talking about how you can deploy a tiered method to sustain the gains you make within your Lean transformation. One of the layers is Leader Standard Work (LSW). Companies make the scheduling of LSW more complicated than it needs to be. Here are simple tips …
Maybe your organization has to pivot into new areas since the COVID19 pandemic. One way to increase the speed of pivoting is to unleash your internal intrapreneurs. As they drive change, offer fresh opportunities and improvements, they will run into barriers. Here is what managers can do to support intrapreneurs. 1. Co-create a vision that …
As a leader in your organization, you must have confidence. That doesn’t mean that you have to be cocky, aloof, and arrogant. No, it means you have to have confidence that when you are called upon to decide, you will decide and move on. Here are five tips to increase confidence. 1. Have it Make …