Nov 11 2015
The various Bonds are more different than you think
Sourced through Scoop.it from: www.economist.com
Michel Baudin‘s comments:
Once hailed by Edward Tufte as purveyor of the most sophisticated graphics in the press, Britain’s “The Economist” has apparently surrendered to the dictatorship of the stacked-bars.
Nov 3 2015
Seen this morning in a Lean consultant’s blog:
“Two decades later, VW has topped Toyota as the world’s number one automaker, but Toyota generally is considered to be […] far more productive. In 2015, VW employs 600,000 people to produce 10 million cars while Toyota employs 340,000 to produce just under 9 million cars…”
Is it really that simple? VW produces 10 million/600,000 = 16.67 cars/employee/year, and Toyota 9 million/340,000 = 26.47 cars/employee/year. Ergo, Toyota is 60% more productive than VW — that is, if you accept cars/employee/year as an appropriate metric of productivity. Unfortunately, it is a bad metric that can easily be gamed by outsourcing.
Oct 29 2015
Question: “I’m the head of a business unit and have had visible results with lean. Yet, my corporate colleagues refuse to acknowledge this and want to force their ERP and purchasing practices on my division. This is very frustrating – any advice?”
Answer: “I certainly understand (and share) your frustration and, unfortunately, I don’t really have useful advice[…] No easy answers”
Sourced through Scoop.it from: www.lean.org
Michel Baudin‘s comments:
Ballé then follows up the non-advice with a 1,079-word essay where, among other developments, he equates the use of ERP with colonialism, leading to the conclusion that there are no easy answers.
Let us assume that the question is from a real manager in a real situation, in a position to make choices with real consequences for his or her career as well as for the company. It deserves an answer.
Oct 28 2015
Akio Toyoda is rolling out an aggressive overhaul of Toyota Motor Corp. that aims to improve everything from manufacturing and product planning to design and human resources.
Sourced through Scoop.it from: www.autonews.com
See on Scoop.it – lean manufacturing
Nov 19 2015
The Lean Champion: Window-Dressing or Agent of Change?
Question seen in another blog:
I have to assume you are not self-appointed. If you are “deployment champion” for Lean in a manufacturing company, it is because someone in gave you the job, presumably because he or she believed in Lean and in you at the right person to champion it. But don’t presume it, find out what the motivation is. If it is that the company must be “Lean-certified” in order to continue doing business with its biggest customer, chances are that the whole effort is window-dressing, and your own job in particular. If this is the case, you need to decide whether you want to play along.
On the other hand, if the person who gave you the job is the CEO, the company must improve its performance to survive, and the CEO is convinced that going Lean is the only feasible way to do it, then it is a real job and you have the backing of the one manager who matters most.
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By Michel Baudin • Management 2 • Tags: Lean Champion, Lean manufacturing