What is Lean? Lean’s origins date back to the post-WW II era in Japan. It was developed by Taiichi Ohno, a Toyota production executive, in response to a number...
Read more
22Feb
Making Small Improvements is Harder Than You Think
I heard a speaker talking one time who said, “if you improve an organization’s productivity by 3 percent each month, you will double your productivity in 25 months.” He...
Read more
24Nov
A Lesson for Quality Professionals from The Pandemic
One of the "unforecasted" events was the microchip shortage, which was partly responsible for the supply chain breakdown. The Lean profession's insistence in just-in-time inventories ex to this problem....
Read more
22Dec
Practical Application of Lean Six Sigma in Reducing Cycle Time
Article Revised: March 28, 2019 The principles and tools in Lean Six Sigma are the most methodical and fruitful strategy to the challenge of cycle time reduction. However, managers need to...
Read more
30Nov
Losing the Race in the Last Mile: Why Many Lean/Six Sigma Initiatives Fail (and What to Do About It)
Article Revised: March 28, 2019 Why do Lean/Six Sigma initiatives fail? What can be done to resurrect them? This was the topic of a recent article by Bill Wilder, published...
Read more
18Nov
Opinions Vary on the Subject of How Many Experts are Needed to Embark on a Lean Journey
Article Revised: March 28, 2019 Perhaps your company is ready to make the commitment toward excellence. Excellence in policies, excellence in operations, excellence in revenues. But to make this commitment,...
Read more
14Nov
A Flashback to the Early Days of Lean
Article Revised: March 28, 2019 Lean operations or lean manufacturing (often referred to simply as lean) has become a buzzword in the last 15-20 years to describe the goal of...
Read more
09Nov
Benefits of Lean Accounting in the Supply Chain
Article Revised: March 28, 2019 Lean accounting is one of the forerunners in a typically two-faced accounting technique pool. Because accrual and cash accounting can create excess inventory issues and...
Read more
18Oct
Arizona’s Economic Department Goes Lean
Article Revised: March 28, 2019 In an effort to improve service, maximize output, and reduce waste, Arizona’s Department of Economic Security recently announced the creation of a DES Lean Transformation...
Read more
17Oct
Announcing the Pyzdek Institute Lean Healthcare Overview Course
Article Revised: March 28, 2019 Since 1967, Thomas Pyzdek has offered training and certification courses using the Lean Six Sigma approach in business management. The Institute now recognizes the need for Lean...
Read more