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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 »true north«
True North Pole
Many years ago a small expedition to the North Pole was funded by several American toy manufacturers, anxious to better understand how Santa’s workshop achieved such incredible productivity and just-in-time delivery. “How can Santa produce all those toys in such a short time?” one manager questioned in disbelief as the small group of managers furtively […]
Up, Back and Around
July 13, 2015
Watching the US Women’s Team take the World Cup last week caused me to reminisce about my short-term coaching stint of a U12 soccer team. Before becoming a coach, I hadn’t played soccer or even watched a game, but there were not enough coaches in our town league so I volunteered. After a two-week clinic […]
Rowing II
September 16, 2013
Many managers ask me “How can I accelerate my company’s Lean transformation?” My answer is two fold: First get the direction right, and then get everyone rowing in that direction. One of my posts from about three years ago (worth reading for context if you don’t remember it), entitled Rowing, relates a story about the […]
Is Lean the Dark Side of TPS?
August 8, 2013
I opened a fortune cookie yesterday, which read: “Understanding little is better than misunderstanding a lot.” Seems to me that we Lean wannabes misunderstand a lot – maybe not everyone, but I regretfully include myself in misunderstanding-a-lot group. There is so much to know about the Toyota Production System that one lifetime of study and […]
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 […]
December 23, 2015
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