May 15 2012
See on Scoop.it – lean manufacturing
When demand dropped off a cliff — only to bounce back dramatically a year later — a lean overhaul helped the truck-trailer manufacturer diversify and create the flexibility it needed to survive.
See on www.industryweek.com
May 14 2012
See on Scoop.it – lean manufacturing
A leading multi-brand, multi-channel distributor and retailer of mobile telecommunications devices, accessories and telecom services in the Middle East, Axiom Telecom was recognized for its commitment to customer service and implementation of several globally acclaimed corporate practices such as the Toyota Production System (TPS), 5s, Kaizen, A3 philosophy and customized all of these into its own approach which is the ‘ Axiom Improvement Management System (AIMS)’ program.
See on uk.zawya.com
May 14 2012
See on Scoop.it – lean manufacturing
See on tera-tps.blogspot.fr
May 13 2012
See on Scoop.it – lean manufacturing
For a successful Lean implementation, the results reported in this article are about par. Without applying Lean, they would be extraordinary.
Supplier factories that adopted lean principles showed defect rates 50 per cent lower than those that didn’t. It also revealed delivery lead times from lean factories were, on average, 40 per cent quicker. Productivity increases of 10 to 20 per cent and a reduction in the time taken to introduce a new model by 30 per cent were also reported from lean factories.
See on www.supplymanagement.com
May 13 2012
See on Scoop.it – lean manufacturing
This article is a critical review of a book called Lean Startup that I haven’t read yet and won’t comment about. The review itself, however, contains some surprising statements, about, for example, ISO-9000 being a technique that emerged as part of Lean, or a about Lean being “a system designed to produce a million identical, high-quality Corollas, Camrys, and Siennas.”
I am used to thinking of ISO-9000 as the product of an international body that is unrelated to Lean, and whose implementation is centered on compliance with generic procedures rather than effectiveness. Not exactly the Lean approach to quality.
The reviewer also appears to be confusing Lean with the system developed by Ford for Model Ts 100 years ago. Lean actually includes approaches to production for Low-Volume/High-Mix as well as High-Volume/Low-Mix environments.
See on www.human-habits.com
May 16 2012
Two news stories highlight conflicting interpretations of Kaizen
Dateline 3/16/2012, Marion, Ill: Aisin recognized with top achiever award. This article recounts how “Aisin Manufacturing Illinois of Marion was recently recognized for their success among all Aisin operations in North America, as the top achiever in the 1-person/1-kaizen program. The 1-person/1-kaizen program is a national program that allows Aisin team members the opportunity to submit and implement ideas for improvement in the areas of safety, quality, cost, delivery or environmental.” In other words, it is an individual suggestion system.
Dateline 3/19/2012, Anoka County, MN: County taking Lean approach to government. The approach to improve the processing of paternity cases was designed by outside consultants, Innovation Process Design, LLC. Their were implemented “using the Kaizen process.” Since recommendations from outside consultants couldn’t possibly be implemented by individual employee suggestions, “Kaizen” obviously does not have the same meaning as in the Aisin story. Drilling through from the article, you reach a government website from the EPA, which defines Kaizens as “rapid improvement processes,” organized in the form of events.
That Kaizen should mean something so radically different in the Japan and the US would not be a problem if the success of the original, Japanese Kaizen were not used to promote the made-in-the-USA Kaizen events. One particularly unfortunate consequence is the quasi-total absence of Kaizen activity in the original senses in US factories that are not Japanese transplants.
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By Michel Baudin • Press clippings 7 • Tags: Kaizen, Lean, Lean implementation, Lean manufacturing