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A Blog About Understanding TPS and Gaining Its Full Benefits, brought to you by "The Toast Guy"
Browsing All posts tagged under »shigeo shingo«
Lean Transformers
A few years ago, after I gave a speech on Lean at a meeting of the Transformer Association (like the kind on the telephone poles providing electricity to your home), my then six-year old son, Ben, asked me if I’d met Megatron. His question caused me to chuckle at the images we assign to our […]
Lean Avoidance
April 1, 2013
I went to the gym this morning, April 1, and the gym’s owner, sole employee, and pretty much everyone’s personal trainer, Howie, asked me the same question he asks me every time I see him: “What’s your weight?” “Stayed the same,” I said, but jokingly added, “Actually, I’m ahead of the game because yesterday I […]
Superficial Resolutions
January 4, 2013
As we begin another new year, here’s a post about resolutions. In most organizations there are plans for something new in 2013 – maybe a new product or market, or a new machine or facility. For those of us in the Lean world, new also means re-new – getting better with what we already have. […]
What is Advanced Manufacturing?
June 4, 2012
I am looking for some help to answer this question. Seeking illumination, I recently attended a presentation offered through CCAT, a non-profit Connecticut corporation with a mission not unlike that of GBMP – “to apply innovative tools and practices to increase efficiencies, improve workforce development and boost competitiveness.” The word optimization was used more times […]
Incremental Elimination of Weeds
April 24, 2012
Spring is my favorite season because of the spirit of renewal it brings with it. So here is a post dedicated to spring that is inspired by a comment made recently by my colleague, Menrika Louis: “I am one with the weeds,” Menrika commented jokingly while we were working together on an improvement project. She […]
What does 3P Stand For?
April 19, 2012
3P, “Production Preparation Process,” is a method introduced to the US in the mid-80’s by Chihiro Nakao, a contemporary of Mr. Ohno, and founder of Shingijutsu consulting. I recall the method was called “New Production Preparation” (NPP) early along, but apparently succumbed to a marketing intervention, hence 3P. The basic idea of 3P is to […]
JIT, Boy Scouts, and Stooges
April 6, 2012
I take my work very seriously, but sometimes when I have excess idle time (like on the red-eye from Phoenix to Boston), I’ll have a whimsical idea. Here’s one I’d like to share, to demonstrate the universality of a good idea. My stream of thought begins with recent participation in the Boy Scouts Merit Badge […]
April 23, 2013
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