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Turning Downtime into Learning Time

For over 25 years, the GBMP’s mission has been to help organizations large and small develop their most valuable resource: their employees. Our..
This entry was posted in lean, old lean dude, TPS, kanban, six sigma, continuous improvement, lean thinking, kaizen on March 21 , 2020.

Tribute to a Coach

Football is a tough sport; tougher than most who play it. Almost everyone who plays will eventually sustain at least a minor injury. It certainly..
This entry was posted in old lean dude, lean manufacturing, kanban, continuous improvement, lean thinking, Toast Kaizen, kaizen on February 19 , 2020.

About Time

Twenty-twenty marks the 35th anniversary of a remarkable and unfortunately also singular event in my career: In 1985, my employer, United Electric..
This entry was posted in lean, old lean dude, kata, lean manufacturing, kanban, six sigma, kaizen, toyota production system on December 27 , 2019.

Talking Turkey

The English language can be confounding. For example, the word turkey is slang for “a person considered inept or undesirable” while the idiom cold ..
This entry was posted in lean, old lean dude, lean manufacturing, six sigma, continuous improvement, lean thinking, kaizen on November 27 , 2019.

Tours R Us (aka Why Sharing & Teaching are the best way to Learn)

After being recognized in 1990 by the Shingo Prize, my plant became an overnight hot spot for benchmarking. Hardly a week went by when there was..
This entry was posted in old lean dude, lean manufacturing, kanban, six sigma, continuous improvement, shingo model, lean thinking, kaizen on September 30 , 2019.

What is a Thinker-Doer?

Several years ago, I was asked to address a startup meeting at a new client, a large manufacturer of medical devices. The company was resource..
This entry was posted in old lean dude, lean manufacturing, lean thinking, Lean Management on September 23 , 2019.

Woodstock – Peace, Love & Lean

To close out the summer of 2019, here’s a lighthearted reflection from the summer of 1969: Today, I’m riding back from Florida bringing my new..
This entry was posted in old lean dude, lean manufacturing, six sigma, continuous improvement, lean thinking, Lean Management, enterprise excellence on September 13 , 2019.

Accountability or Authority?

Reflecting on McGregor’s X and Y Theories of human motivation, Shigeo Shingo took the position that each of us by nature has a dual tendency:..
This entry was posted in old lean dude, lean manufacturing, six sigma, continuous improvement, pdca, kaizen, leader standard work on August 27 , 2019.

Field of Daisies

A daisy rising from my brick walkway reminded me this morning, that even in the worst environment, there is a chance for growth. But this kind of..
This entry was posted in old lean dude, lean manufacturing, continuous improvement, shingo model, Total Employee Involvement on August 16 , 2019.

Small Things

Last February I had the opportunity to observe healthcare providers up close and personal at one the world’s premier hospitals. “Who Cares for the..
This entry was posted in old lean dude on February 27 , 2019.

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