With GBMP’s 18th Annual Northeast Lean Conference on the horizon, I’m reflecting on our theme, “Amplifying Lean – The Collaboration Effect.” The term..

“Never let a good crisis go to waste.” This advice, attributed to Nicolo Machiavelli, and later cited by Winston Churchill at the conclusion of WWII,..

In 1985, about the time I was discovering there was a better way to produce products, The Natural, a film about an aging baseball player with..

[Editor’s Note: This post is part 2 of a post from March 1, Do Your Job. If you haven’t already read it, reading it will help to provide context.] ..

We had been working with TSSC for two years to build a model line in our assembly department. As we moved from small batch production to one-by-one,..

Every February around this time, there are welcome reminders that Spring is on the way. The first for me is a witch hazel bush in my front yard..

You may recognize the quote from Friedrich Nietzsche – or more recently from Kelly Clarkson 🙂 “What doesn’t kill you makes your stronger.” I’ve..

I sat on the phone on hold this morning, serenaded by Christmas music, interrupted periodically by a recorded message, “Your call is very..

As promised in my last post, here is another tribute to Mr. Hajime Oba: In 1996, TSSC (Toyota Production System Support Center) began working..

Just a little over a year ago we lost Hajime Oba, one of the great pioneers of TPS learning in the US. In 1992, he was the founding manager of..