Do you have both a quality assurance (or quality control) department and a process improvement group? Is there a manager/ director/ vice president for each? Your process improvement approach...
Would you like to know the aggregate cost of mistakes at your organization? Even in rough form, the number would drive action. It does not take a genius to figure out that profitable firms spend a great deal of money ...
How long can you stand to lose 20% or more of your total salaried expense in waste? Planning issues often waste more than this. By applying proven lean planning techniques you can make planning flow...
To change from a conventional work process to a smooth flow and minimal inventory, you need a map. Actually, you need two maps; one of the current state, and one of the future state. A Value Stream Map is a tool to let your teams make practical and analytical sense of your flow, using time- based measures. You have only your extra expenses to lose…
Maintenance costs big money, and poor maintenance costs more. If machine uptime is not predictable then we cannot satisfy the customer, and we cannot stay in business. Doing this is part of Lean; not ‘Lean and Mean’ but core Lean work. Learn how to make Total Productive Maintenance happen…
Do you want your people to think like employees or to think like partners? An employee will shut off at the end of the day. A partner will continually bring new ideas to light and make improvements beyond their immediate area. Don’t waste your expensive process improvement training! Start a contagion of improvement among your people…
Will you always have to live with mistakes? Not if you apply these non-traditional approaches to management and empowerment. You will need these approaches in doing Lean or you will be stuck with a half solution. Without large batches, a mistake will cost you too much. Build mistake detection and avoidance into your machines and into your culture…
Standard work does not mean the activity never changes, nor does it mean slavish adherence to outdated methods. It simply means everyone agrees to do it one way until something better comes along, then everyone changes to the new method. It is truly easier said than done, however, and even the managers need to work to a standard.
Standard work sounds uncreative, but it is something that frees us to be creative. Repetitious work performed in non-standard ways wastes money, in both plant and office environments. See how some of the simple Lean tools can help you add standardized work where it makes sense…
So you want to measure your cost of poor quality? A very good idea, but will you try it alone? Installation of a systematic cost of quality approach often follows several stages. To understand why using an expert is invaluable, we’ve built a short scenario to step through…
We all have measures we depend on. This article tells how to be certain the measurement is valid. If most of the variation in the measurement is from the thing being measured, then the measure is trustworthy. Otherwise, you are taking the measure on faith. Unpleasant surprises often result from this…
Many managers struggle with the choice of what to do first, second, and how involved to get with the improvement methodologies of Lean and Six Sigma. Lean is intuitive; Six Sigma seems scary with all the math and statistics. They have heard that Six Sigma is expensive, and sometimes it does not work. Lack of resources, training deficits, and other problems appear as major roadblocks. This is not hard as is seems; Lean and Six sigma fit together well…
First of all, Lean is not an acronym for ‘Less Employees Are Needed.’ Some firms have had large layoffs and implemented Lean, but the Lean implementation followed the layoffs, and was not the cause of the layoffs. These firms were in deep trouble, and their Lean journey was the way to growth in employment, not more layoffs.
Using the principles of finance for improvement you can show the specific economic benefits of a six sigma, ISO, Baldrige based, or other process improvement program. This article provides some guidance on applying what was formerly called Cost-of-Quality principles.
Presenting a clear picture of quality and cost of quality to business leaders continues to be a challenge. Quality methods and approaches have evolved over the years, but many business leaders still do not associate quality with business improvement initiatives. Quality professionals must address eight myths of quality to change sentiment.
Cost of Quality principles have been used in project work for years, but there has always been a nagging impression that quality costs do not fit quite right in project work. This article proposes a new concept, a new way of applying cost of quality in project work that makes the cost data of immediate use to a project manager, allowing the manager to steer the project during work, and not just as a post mortem.
Read why the often used phrase, "Our employees are our most important asset" can misfire. This phrase, and variations of it, can wreak havoc even if it is expressed with integrity and deployed well.
Follow up on the rest of the story behind the one critical success factor mentioned by virtually every improvement talk, article, or presentation your have ever read, heard or seen. The answer is obvious, and like most obvious things, you will ask yourself, "Why didn’t I think of that?"
