I’m sure you have heard there are four stages of team development that each team goes through before they perform at a high level. A Rapid Improvement Event (RIE) is a 3-5 day-long activity where you bring together team members from different areas to improve a process or department. Because of the short duration of …
Lean ROI is much greater than money to the bottom line. Some organizations get caught in the never-ending exercise of having to quantify the money they are “saving” from their Lean innovation activities. I believe you should undertake a Lean innovation because it is the right thing to do. I’ve seen companies spend more time …
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 podcast can be found here. Geater Machining and Manufacturing …
Geater Used a Lean Journey to Help Them Grow from 10M to 45M Read More »
I recently saw a quote from Jeff Bezos about Amazon, everyone’s favorite digital success story. “We’ve had three ideas at Amazon that have stuck for eighteen years. Put the customer first. Invent. Be patient.” Sounds simple to me, but like most things in a headline-worthy soundbite, they are hard to accomplish. In the book Digitize …
If you read my book the Lean Game Plan, you know I talk about having Lean basics in place- Inventory Accuracy, Bill of Material (BOM) accuracy, and 6S before getting more sophisticated. Today, I want to talk about four steps you can take to improve your BOM accuracy. An important Lean saying is- increase stability …
Four Steps to Improve Bill of Material (BOM) Accuracy Read More »
When I was in my MBA program during the late 1990s, I “majored” in entrepreneurship. One class I took during that time was a class on becoming an intrapreneur- an entrepreneur within an organization. As competition has driven the need to change for many companies, their existing culture doesn’t allow for risk-taking. Ben Franklin said, …
Four Guidelines for Supporting Your Lean Intrapreneurs Read More »
As a leader, it is important to realize that everyone handles change their own way. Who are the only people that like change? Wet babies. After you are done groaning at that poor joke, let’s talk about the four stages that everyone goes through when faced with changes in the workplace. Stage 1. Denial When …
Four Stages of Change Your Employees Face During a Lean Journey Read More »
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. NeoTech in Longmont, Colorado is a contract manufacturer that primarily …
Neotech Saves $150,000 from First Rapid Improvement Event Read More »
In this blog, I want to introduce the concept of Industry 4.0 or sometimes referred to as Smart Manufacturing. It is called industry 4.0 because it is the fourth Industrial Revolution. The first Industrial Revolution which started in 1784 brought about mechanization through steam and waterpower. It is the first time that our lives took …
Is your organization beginning your Lean transformation, but you don’t know where to start? Have you been at it for years, but now you’re stalled? They have assigned you to be your organization’s Lean Coordinator and aren’t sure what to do? I have been honored to work with many organizations over the years. Most have …