When it comes to the topic of making changes, many people tend to focus on making big changes to create a big impact. However, big changes often take extended amounts of time and resources to fully implement, and many people and businesses alike do not have the feasibility to always enact big changes. Instead, it is often wiser to focus more on small changes that in the…
Mike Wilson | April 4, 2013 | Lean | Continuous Improvement
In the business world, there is a constant need and desire for improvement. It doesn’t matter whether a business specializes in the market of rare auto parts or in making the best enchiladas. The plain and simple truth is that improving business practices to meet the ever-changing and diverse needs of society is essential to the success of any business endeavor. However, with all this change and…
Mike Wilson | March 26, 2013 | Lean | Continuous Improvement, Lean
When you enter a place of business, who do you expect to interact with? An employee or one of the actual business leaders? For most of us, we expect to work with a trained employee who is essentially a representative of the company. It would be somewhat odd to walk up to the check-out lane at a large commercialized grocery store and have the actual business owner…
Mike Wilson | March 20, 2013 | Lean | Continuous Improvement, Lean
When discussing the term “metrics” or “performance metrics,”we are referring to the approaches businesses take to gauge or measure performance. Metrics are often used to determine whether a company is or isn’t making its objectives and goals and often serves as a platform to identify areas in need of improvement. However, it is important to remember that the results of metrics are not the one and only…
Mike Wilson | March 7, 2013 | Lean | Continuous Improvement, Lean
For those of you who have not experienced the splendor of IKEA, right now is a great time to learn some helpful and effective facts regarding their lean tactics and safety style. IKEA is a Dutch-based retail company that originated in Sweden back in 1943. Through the years IKEA has proven itself to be one of the largest and most efficient ready-to-assemble furniture and home décor stores…
Mike Wilson | February 21, 2013 | Lean, Safety Solutions | Continuous Improvement, Lean
When most people think about performance improvement, they often think of things such as customer satisfaction or continuous improvement models. It is true that both of these components are important to the overall success of a business. However, the most significant revision within the ISO 9001 is calling for a requirement of quality objectives. If you think about it, objectives are a HUGE part of how a…
Mike Wilson | February 8, 2013 | Lean | Continuous Improvement, Lean
The world of health care is always changing and rightfully so with all the changes in the business world why would health care remain the same? However, despite some long-practiced, tried and true methods of assessing health care quality such as Donabedian’s structures method which focuses on processes and outcomes as well as the inception of the continuous improvement model and the balanced scorecard method the professionals…
Mike Wilson | February 7, 2013 | Safety Solutions | Continuous Improvement, Healthcare, Lean
On the A Lean Journey blog, Tim McMahon offered up the reins to Lean Six Sigma writer, Kathryn Thompson, about a case study in lean manufacturing and six sigma. Inappropriately titled “The Successes of Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma: A Case Study,” Thompson’s post is sparse on details and any data backing up the claim that Midlake Products is a decent model for lean and six sigma.…
Mike Wilson | November 16, 2012 | Lean | Continuous Improvement, Lean, Lean Manufacturing
Lean systems are meant for producing the best products and services with little or no wastage of various kinds of resources. Lean supply chain management purports to create a well designed supply chain management system where all the resources are effectively utilized. The people, processes, technologies and suppliers will be optimized at the beginning of the implementation and it will be an ongoing process. The best of…
Mike Wilson | November 13, 2012 | Lean | Continuous Improvement, Lean
Kaizen philosophy can be introduced to improve your personal life, public life and workplace. It can be effectively implemented in education as well to get great benefits in the overall development of the student and the school as well. Kaizen is the most important strategy that was adapted by Japanese in every walk of life. The strategy revolves around the continuous improvement measures. Let us describe how…
Mike Wilson | November 12, 2012 | Kaizen | Continuous Improvement, Kaizen
Lean manufacturing has become a very important concept in business improvement. Most large organizations have devised tools and systems to help align their businesses towards lean enterprise and reap the benefits of improved efficiency and waste reduction. Most people associate lean manufacturing with business production unaware that it is a broad concept that can also be used in other sectors within an organization. Lean methodologies can be…
Mike Wilson | November 2, 2012 | Lean | Continuous Improvement, Lean Manufacturing
One of the easiest ways to keep things organized in your shop after a long day of work is to take the guesswork out of where tools should be stored. No one likes to start working in an environment that is disordered and cluttered. The video below demonstrates how to create tool organizer inserts for your tool boxes and drawers. These inserts specifically fit certain tools and…
Mike Wilson | November 1, 2012 | 5S | 5S, Continuous Improvement
5S as a tool for lean enterprise was developed by Toyota to transform the then infant multinational into a major global player. The transformation did indeed take place with very fruitful lessons to all business managers worldwide. The raging misconception that these tools are only applicable in large organizations with complex structures is ill-informed as indeed they can work well in a small sized enterprise even better…
Mike Wilson | November 1, 2012 | 5S | 5S, Continuous Improvement, Facility Efficiency
Quality and productivity in an ideal situation should always go hand in hand. However, where there is a pressure to perform they are always pitted against each other. Business managers are always under a lot of pressure to hit targets and increase their output; this has a resultant effect of compromised productivity. Customers, due to low prices may not complain but this situation prevails as long as…
Mike Wilson | October 29, 2012 | Kaizen | Continuous Improvement, Kaizen, Lean Manufacturing
The basics of management posit that input will more often than not equal the output. A meager input will result to insignificant yields with no prospects of progress creating a vicious cycle of low productivity. For any business manager to be able to reverse this, an intense and critical examination of all the aspects of the business processes must be carried out to weed out the weak…
Mike Wilson | October 26, 2012 | Lean | Continuous Improvement, Lean, Six Sigma
