News

Aug 23 2013

How the 80/20 Rule will improve the safety of your warehouse | IndustryWeek

See on Scoop.it – lean manufacturing
“If companies can identify their high movers from a pick history list, the “vital” 20% can be optimally located within the shelving systems to maximize production efficiencies and to minimize wasted time and effort. The 80/20 Rule can help companies strategically locate “vital” materials so that employees’ efficiency and safety are maximized.”

 

 

Michel Baudin‘s insight:

In this article ergonomist Lance Perry explains that organize items in warehouses by frequency of use improves the ergonomics of manual storage and retrieval.

In Lean Logisitics, I presented the same policies as a means of increasing productivity and reducing the lead times of warehouse operations. Making what you use the most often easiest to reach improves multiple dimensions of performance at the same time. There is no tradeoff; you don’t rob Peter to pay Paul; you don’t make X better by making Y worse. That’s why we call is an improvement.

What is most puzzling is that such a simple idea is not already universally applied.

See on www.industryweek.com

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Aug 22 2013

Get certified in Lean without setting foot in a factory! | Industry Market Trends

See on Scoop.it – lean manufacturing “Lean Six Sigma – This is perhaps one of the most popular training systems for manufacturing companies. […] Online courses can provide training and certification for all levels from yellow belt to black belt.”

Michel Baudin‘s insight:
William Hope as pilot in Aliens (1986)
William Hope as pilot in Aliens (1986)

It reminds me of the movie “Aliens,” when Ripley asks the spaceship pilot how many times he has landed on an unknown planet: “38 times,” he says, before adding “… in simulations.”

See on news.thomasnet.com

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Aug 20 2013

Toyota Supports Australian Suppliers | Financial Review

See on Scoop.it – lean manufacturing
Toyota, which says it plans to keep making cars at Broadmeadows, will spend $15 million – including $5 million from the federal government – to help its local suppliers become more competitive.
See on www.afr.com

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Aug 19 2013

There’s heavy demand in all sectors for ‘lean’ specialists | The Globe and Mail

See on Scoop.it – lean manufacturing
“When Sun Life Financial goes to market to bolster its growing team of “lean” business specialists, it faces wide-ranging competition – jostling on job boards with companies as varied as Telus, Bombardier, Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children, Shoppers Drug Mart, Kraft Foods and the City of Vancouver.

On any given day, there are hundreds of postings on Canadian online job sites for people with formal certification in techniques known as Lean and Six Sigma, as well as the strong managerial skills needed to lead organizational change.”

Michel Baudin‘s insight:

The quotes around Lean in the title are certainly appropriate.

As discussed before, Lean is not a standard body of knowledge that people can be certified on the way you get a driver’s license. Six Sigma has nothing to do with Lean and has been abandoned at GE, the company the article mistakenly quotes as having originated it. It was Motorola, not GE.

According to the article, management in the quoted companies views “managing a portfolio of transformation and improvement efforts” as a job for which it hires specialists. It’s not. Instead, it is a skill every manager should have.

Wait another three years, and my bet is that we will see an article in the same paper describing how disappointed these companies have been with the certifications, and how little their performance has improved.

See on www.theglobeandmail.com

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Aug 18 2013

Obeya Ops | IW Presentation, April-2013 | Sam McPherson

See on Scoop.it – lean manufacturing

Obeya example from Sam McPherson
Obeya example from Sam McPherson

“The Theory behind Obeya is based on a simple idea: Dedicate time and space to coordination and problem-solving and organizational barriers will be minimized.

The ability to maintain Proper Problem Awareness in Real-time, listen to Teammember concerns, make discoveries, resolve problems together, collaborate, accelerate leader and team-member development and reach our full potential is critical to a Lean Organization

The Obeya promotes coordination, strategy and flexibility while leveraging the  expertise and support of teammates from diverse areas.

The Result: Effective solutions and actions that can be developed and implemented quickly…”

Michel Baudin‘s insight:

A clear presentation, with many informative pictures, as befits this topic.

See on www.leanleadershipacademy.com

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Aug 15 2013

Don’t ‘Lean’ on Me, Hospital Workers Say | Labor Notes

See on Scoop.it – lean manufacturing
“A sign in the newborn intensive care unit invited nurses to suggest changes that would speed up their work.

One popular suggestion: replace a sticky combination lock with swipe-card entry. But that would cost too much.

Instead, on a consultant’s recommendation, supplies were rearranged. Blue masking tape outlines now show where each item is supposed to go. A sign lists the “five S’s” of workplace organization (sorting, straightening, cleaning (shine), standardizing, and service). Each shift, one nurse is supposed to check them off.”

– See more at: http://www.labornotes.org/2013/06/dont-lean-me-hospital-workers-say#sthash.BUCnk306.dpuf

Michel Baudin‘s insight:

I had seen articles bashing Lean from a union perspective in manufacturing, but this is the first one I see about hospitals.

On the one hand, the author thinks that the work processes cannot be improved, and that the only way outcomes can be is by new equipment or more people. On the other hand, the “improvements” she describes are definitely L.A.M.E. (Lean As Mistakenly Implemented) rather than Lean: 5S as the most visible change, curtailment of communications between outgoing and incoming nurses as shift change, or reduction in the skill level of heart monitor operators, etc.

If that is what “Lean Health Care” boils down to, she has a point. But what about the use of Kanbans to manage supplies, as described in the “Par versus Kanban” article I scooped on 8/13?

See on www.labornotes.org

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