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Category Archives: continuous improvement (7)

Another Use for Duct Tape

Here’s a post inspired by the glut of recent football weekends. Lou Holtz, the legendary college and pro football coach offers the following advice..
This entry was posted in old lean dude, lean manufacturing, six sigma, continuous improvement, Management Kaizen, Duct tape, kaizen, problem solving culture, toyota production system, gemba walk, Lean Culture on January 11 , 2016.

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..
This entry was posted in old lean dude, lean manufacturing, six sigma, continuous improvement, lean thinking, process, production, 7 wastes, true north, toyota production system on December 23 , 2015.

Mistake-Proofing Mistakes

There is a popular lore provided by Shigeo Shingo, that the original name for mistake-proofing (Poka-Yoke) was “fool-proofing” (Baka-Yoke). Shingo..
This entry was posted in lean, old lean dude, six sigma, continuous improvement, standard work, error-proofing, pokayoke, poka-yoke, toyota production system, shigeo shingo, mistake proofing, manufacturing on December 08 , 2015.

Lazy Lean Guy

In 1987, shortly after I became a manufacturing manager, the shop foreman at the time warned me about a young assembler: “Watch out for Michael, he’s..
This entry was posted in old lean dude, TPS, lean manufacturing, continuous improvement, Taiichi Ohno, Non-stock production, toyota production system, better faster cheaper easier, shigeo shingo on November 12 , 2015.

Putting The Pieces Together

Summer’s here, and that means a family vacation to the beach, the boardwalk and the Hamilton’s favorite Pizza place. We all agree that Manco’s pizza..
This entry was posted in lean, old lean dude, continuous improvement, Toast Kaizen, improvement kata, Pizza, northeast lean conference, kaizen, bruce hamilton, toyota production system, Lean Culture on July 24 , 2015.

Long-Term Sinking

This past week my organization, GBMP, moved from our home of twenty years at the Boston campus of the University of Massachusetts. The UMB College of..
This entry was posted in lean, old lean dude, continuous improvement, Shingo Institute, Stability, toyota production system, foundation on June 30 , 2015.

The Emperor’s New Huddle Boards

After a one-day observation at a local company, I participated in a wrap-up meeting with the General Manager and his team. “We’ve been at this for..
This entry was posted in old lean dude, lean manufacturing, continuous improvement, shingo prize, problem solving, bruce hamilton, A3, Huddle Boards on March 23 , 2015.

A Tale of Two Communities

There was a time when “community” was narrowly defined as “a group of people living in the same place.” I have distant recollections of a Boy Scout..
This entry was posted in old lean dude, lean manufacturing, continuous improvement, lean enterprise institute, community of lean, benchmarking, LEI, toyota production system, membership on March 17 , 2015.

Musical Kata

I sang baritone and sometimes tenor in the St. John’s Lutheran Church choir according the key of the hymn were rehearsing and also depending upon who..
This entry was posted in old lean dude, kata, lean manufacturing, continuous improvement, improvement kata, toyota kata, mike rother, coaching kata, bruce hamilton, toyota production system, healthcare kata, operational excellence on February 17 , 2015.

Overproduction

Not wishing to rub salt in the wounds of my beleaguered Red Sox, their meteoric rise from last place in 2012 to first place in 2013 and subsequent..
This entry was posted in lean, old lean dude, six sigma, continuous improvement, kaizen, overproduction, gemba, toyota production system, seven wastes, shigeo shingo on September 25 , 2014.

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