Comments for Old Lean Dude

Comment on Systems Tinking by Gary H. Lucas

Gary H. Lucas — Tue, 30 May 2017 23:36:45 +0000

A good indicator of whether a document is useful is the rev number. Any document with a low rev number is likely useless. Our part numbering explanation document just passed rev 100 indicating it is very current and being used.

Comment on Respect for People by Helgi Eide

Helgi Eide — Fri, 26 May 2017 22:15:25 +0000

Well stated 🙂

Comment on Reflecting on Waste by Gary Peterson

Gary Peterson — Mon, 22 May 2017 17:40:54 +0000

Brilliant, Bruce! We’ll borrow this for our internal conversations and training.

Comment on Reflecting on Waste by Tom Gormley

Tom Gormley — Wed, 17 May 2017 19:35:28 +0000

Thanks Bruce for your experienced view on the biggest waste of all — seeing waste and not doing anything about it. Perhaps Shingo never experienced that at Toyota. Although problems and waste may persist despite efforts to improve, I think the case you’re talking about is when there’s been no effort. I agree – it’s frustrating and we see it all the time in healthcare. In healthcare there’s enormous waste and opportunity, which when you bounce it against an often slow-changing culture and scarce, stressed out resources, it seems we have to learn to be satisfied with a few, small wins. I’m curious as to your perspective – can we succeed with this approach if success is defined as let’s say — transformation in 5 or 10 years to “everyone, every day continuous improvement”?

Comment on Reflecting on Waste by Sid Joynson

Sid Joynson — Mon, 15 May 2017 15:19:40 +0000

When lean thinking was being extracted from TPS not enough emphasis was given to Shigeo Shingo’s original thinking on the structure of productive activities. This created a serious flaw in lean thinking. —
In 1989 I had a one hour session by myself with Shingo and his interpreter. The major part of the time was Shingo explaining his concept that the production mechanism should be seen as a network of two flows; Processes and Operations. My reason for asking him about this subject was the fact that the same two pages on this subject appear in all his books. When I asked him how important this concept was he said it was fundamental that these concepts and their relationships were understood in order to make effective improvements in productive activities. The comments below are based on the notes I took at the time and my subsequent experiences.—-
He explained; Production is a network of two activity flows. Processes and Operations. —-
Processes. These are the sequence/flow of events that products and services pass through on their journey from raw material/information to being finished items. —
I.e. Storage —Transportation — Storage/delay —transformation — storage/delay —- transportation. Repeat —
Within the process flow there are two types of storage/delay; Lot Delay and Process Delay. —
Lot Delay. An item is delayed while the rest of the lot/batch is produced.
Solution —One piece flow. —
Process Delay. An item is delayed while it waits for previous items to be processed through the next machine/activity. Solution — Synchronise cycle times. —-
Operations This is the sequence/flow of activities conducted by people, machinery and systems on the raw materials/information and products at each process stage. —-
I.e. Set-up — Essential motion — Auxiliary motion — Marginal allowances. Repeat—S.E.A.M
(Essential motions are those that produce what the customer requires; are valuable to them. i.e. P.S.E. P — Product- the physical item. S — Service to support the product. E — Experiences the customer enjoys acquiring, using and maintaining the product/service). —-
If you see processes as the vertical flow and the operational one as a horizontal flow along from each process stage you can see his network. —-
What then becomes obvious is that only the essential step of the transformation process is valuable to the customer, everything else is waste and is a candidate for elimination. —
The fundamental rule is to improve the process before the operation. Don’t improve transportation eliminate it. —
The ultimate goal is one piece flow with synchronised cycle times that represent customer demand rate. —-
When you see all these elements you can appreciate Shingo’s genius for simplicity. They should be the basic principles for all lean thinking and waste elimination activities.—
When you understand Shingo’s network, which I understand came from it his work with and studies of the activities at Toyota Motors, it becomes easy to see the waste in any system.

Comment on Superficial Resolutions by Real vs. Superficial Resolutions – ec-bp.com

Real vs. Superficial Resolutions – ec-bp.com — Sat, 15 Apr 2017 21:09:40 +0000

[…] Were your 2013 resolutions for your business real, or superficial? It could mean the difference between improvement and just having the same bad result faster. Bruce Hamilton, in The Old Lean Dude blog, lets us know how to tell the difference. Read it HERE. […]

Comment on Babel by Bruce Hamilton

Bruce Hamilton — Wed, 22 Mar 2017 01:53:41 +0000

Thanks Kelley. Good example. Do recall reading this poem as a child?

Six Wise Men of Hindustan
By John Godrey Saxe

There were six men of Hindustan,
to learning much inclined,
Who went to see an elephant,
though all of them were blind,
That each by observation
might satisfy his mind.

The first approached the elephant,
and happening to fall
Against his broad and sturdy side,
at once began to bawl,
“This mystery of an elephant
is very like a wall.”

The second, feeling of the tusk,
cried, “Ho, what have we here,
So very round and smooth and sharp?
To me ’tis mighty clear,
This wonder of an elephant
is very like a spear.”

The third approached the elephant,
and happening to take
The squirming trunk within his hands,
thus boldly up and spake,
“I see,” quoth he,
“the elephant is very like a snake.”

The fourth reached out an eager hand,
and felt above the knee,
“What this most wondrous beast
is like is very plain” said he,
“‘Tis clear enough the elephant
is very like a tree.”

The fifth who chanced to touch the ear
said, “E’en the blindest man
Can tell what this resembles most;
deny the fact who can;
This marvel of an elephant
is very like a fan.”

The sixth no sooner had begun
about the beast to grope,
Than seizing on the swinging tail
that fell within his scope;
“I see,” said he, “the elephant
is very like a rope.”

So six blind men of Hindustan
disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion
exceeding stiff and strong;
Though each was partly in the right,
they all were in the wrong!

Comment on Babel by GBMP

GBMP — Tue, 21 Mar 2017 14:32:17 +0000

Kelley, this is an amazing example! 13 definitions??? Wow. Key takeaway learned. Thanks!

Comment on Babel by Kelley Buckentine

Kelley Buckentine — Tue, 21 Mar 2017 13:59:31 +0000

This article references what I refer to as ‘operational definitions’ which are critical to improvement team’s success. I was leading a large kaizen, 22 people (for the largest privately held organization in the world). Our goal was to prepare for SAP implementation, addressing our 9 disparate systems that each held key customer information. We needed to create ‘one common view’ for each customer. Day 2 of the kaizen there was quite a heated discussion. As the facilitator I called an audible and asked ‘when you say customer, who are you referring to’ and went around the room with that question. Turns out there were 13 different definitions of customer. Lesson learned: try to identify key operational definitions to ground your team before you begin process discussions.

Comment on Babel by Richard Bubb

Richard Bubb — Mon, 20 Mar 2017 20:07:00 +0000

Hi Bruce,

Here’s a couple of Babel-words:

“Best Effort”: We will not stop until all possible specifications are within a few % (or less) of perfection. Oh yeah, we charge by the hour.

“Factor of Safety”: Exactly on nominal. Oh yeah, we charge by the hour.

“Countermeasure” (expressed mathematically): Product of [Arbitrary spec limit +/- 6 Best Efforts] minus arbitrary Design FMEA levels correlated to yet more arbitrary Process FMEA levels that are basically guesses-at-best plus “N” Poke Yoke minus “Y” Poke Yoke that don’t work all the time divided by the square root of negative wtf].

“Poke Yoke”: literally impossible to make the widget any way but correctly… until the Poke Joker stops by.

“Poke Joker”: That little laughing voice in your head (oh yeah, you know the one I mean) when someone defeats one of your Best Effort & Factor of Safety Poke Yoke countermeasures. In seconds. cf: “Murphy”

“Last & Furious”: Your emotional state after Poke Joker and ALL his Murphy friends decide totally wreck your entire week. BTW, it’s Monday and you have to find the 5 Why+Therefore Root Cause, countermeasure it, then poke-yoke it all in 5 days or less or you’re working the entire weekend or at least last out of the door every day.
Or you can rise above it… just as soon as you learn to levitate.

Other much more interesting quotes (i.e., not made up by me) can be found here: http://www.focusedperformance.com/quotes15.html
or here
http://www.focusedperformance.com/quotes.html see bottom of page for links to the other good ones.

Best Regards,

Rich Bubb
Six Sigma Black Belt
richard_bubb@fwmetals.com
260-747-4154 x2308

Fort Wayne Metals Research
9609 Ardmore Avenue
Continuous Improvement Group
Building G [aka: ABG]
Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA 46809

“Continuous Improvement is not Contingent Improvement.” — Rich Bubb, 2016 —

“I’m so cool, I make my own shade.” – Rich Bubb, 2010 –

Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes. –Oscar Wilde-