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Sep 9 2015

“Wisdom” and “Continuous Improvement” in the Toyota Way

Toyota’s Japanese documents and their English versions often mean different things. Recently, looking at the Japanese version of The Toyota Way 2001, I was surprised to find that what is translated into English as “Continuous Improvement” is “Chie to Kaizen” (知恵と改善), which means “Wisdom and Continuous Improvement.” In the English version, “Wisdom” was not only dropped from the main header, it appears nowhere.

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By Michel Baudin • Management 18 • Tags: Continuous improvement, Kaizen, Toyota, toyota way. TPS

Sep 7 2015

“Lean – my employees do that” | Wiegand’s Watch

This is a translation of Bodo Wiegand’s latest newsletter, about Lean in Germany:

I visited a company earlier this week and, as always, first went through the production floor.

The Lean manager led me through the facility. On the first white board he told me proudly, what information is collected and discussed every day. It was professionally designed, clean and clear. For me personally, it was a bit too much information, and not well suited for communication with employees.

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By Michel Baudin • Blog clippings 3 • Tags: Lean Daily Management, Lean management, Performance board

ships-crossing-past-the-Golden-Gate

Sep 1 2015

Improving Versus Getting Others To Improve

Managers’ near universal reaction to the challenge of improvement is that their own operations are already run as effectively and efficiently as possible, given external constraints, including fickle customers, unreliable suppliers, local labor laws, worn-out equipment, a rickety transportation infrastructure, and the weather. The internal problems are so puny compared to the external ones that it would be futile to address them. Who cares about doubling operator productivity when labor costs are 5% of the cost of goods sold? Why should we reduce production lead times to one day when component purchasing lead times are four months?

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By Michel Baudin • Management 0 • Tags: Lean, supplier support

Aug 25 2015

What’s Wrong With the Rote Application of Lean Tools?

There is more to playing the piano than practicing scales, but you can’t get there unless you do practice scales. Likewise, there is more to Lean than tools, but you need the tools. They are not sufficient, but they are necessary. Unless you learn them, you are depriving yourself of the benefits of clever tricks, methods, and analytical tools developed over 65 years. Each one doesn’t necessarily take long to learn, but would to reinvent, and you don’t have that time.

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By Michel Baudin • Management 3 • Tags: Lean, Tools of Lean, Toyota, TPS

Aug 19 2015

Jidoka isn’t just about “stop and fix”

Jidoka (自働化)  isn’t just “stop and fix” or “stop and call.”  It is a complete approach to automation that includes building in the ability of a machine to stop when it malfunctions but also includes many other things. Sakichi Toyoda’s Type-G loom didn’t just stop when the yarn broke, it also had automatic shuttle change, which reduced the need for human intervention in its normal operations, and was a breakthrough that had eluded everybody else.

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By Michel Baudin • Technology 0 • Tags: Automation, Autonomation, Ford, jidoka, Sakichi Toyoda, Toyota

Aug 8 2015

Is there such a thing as managerial DNA? | LinkedIn

Scientific and technical terms are frequently used metaphorically in business, in ways that don’t always make sense. Companies, nowadays, are commonly described as having certain practices, “in their DNA,” and you hear discussions of “changing their DNA.”As is known to anyone who has taken High School biology or watched a recent cop show on TV,  the one thing you can’t change is your DNA. We each have our own version, formed at conception and replicated in every cell of our body.

Sourced through Scoop.it from: www.linkedin.com

See on Scoop.it – lean manufacturing

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By Michel Baudin • Management 0 • Tags: Corporate Culture, DNA, Lean, Management

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