Ongoing improvement in any industry is essential for the success of a business. When companies, or even individual facilities, become stagnant, their competition can quickly overtake them. With this in mind, it is important for all companies, and the individuals who make them up, should always be trying to make improvements. In many facilities, the main focus is on workflow improvement. Things like adjusting the way a…
When most people think of Lean ideologies and methodologies, they think of kaizen and continuous improvement first. However as one moves deeper into Lean, you begin to add new vocabulary and processes to your Lean tool bag. Today’s word of the day: kaikaku. Most that know or have heard of kaizen think of it as a slow continuous improvement that is necessary to sustain a successful operation.…
Building a culture for your Lean processes to thrive on can be very difficult without the right tools and skills within the population of your facility. Lean is no different than safety or any other process your organization implements, it takes a culture that believes and thrives on the ideas your processes are founded on. Behind every culture though, is the understanding and appreciation for communication. Successful…
SDCA (Standardize, Do, Check, and Act) with LEAN principles. The SDCA cycle is simply a refinement of the PDCA (Plan, Do, Check, and Act) cycle. The goal of both processes is to stabilize production. Many companies use this process to improve their product or service. Here is what your company may want to know about this process. 1. LEAN Marketing with SDCA Marketing cycles can be improved…
When it comes to coaching techniques in business, many companies utilize different methods to encourage their employees and quicken the learning process. Sometimes, a faster approach may lead to less understanding and more room for error, and coaches can be overly critical of their employees’ performances. Struggling to keep the momentum going while addressing problem areas, many coaches lose sight of the real end goal of teaching…
It is advisable that employee acknowledgement be ingrained in the culture of the business and not simply an act of ingenuine communication. Indeed, employee acknowledgement is a communication device that reinforces and rewards the most significant results that employees are responsible for. When leadership identifies employees competently, it strengthens, with its selected means of acknowledgement, the activities and behaviors it most desires to see in the employees…
If you’re concerned about accountability, you should learn more about the responsibility every individual has in the workplace. In general, a person is accountable based upon their choices. They are accountable when they choose to enter the medical profession, and they’re accountable when they select a job in any profession that involves or requires the safety and well-being of others. Learning about accountability is necessary and easy…
We’ve all had a bad experience at a restaurant. It’s nothing we or the restaurant ever hope for, but it’s the risk we take each time we venture out for a meal. We generally choose a restaurant for one of two reasons, the food or the atmosphere and set our expectations accordingly. For my most recent dining experience I went with the latter and made my way…
The path towards continuous improvement in your lean journey is not always as clear as you’d like it to be. Many of the processes and methodologies behind Lean take time before your organization has success with them. It’s a learning process well worth the investment, but can be frustrating at times. Same goes for the Lean process known as Single Minute Exchange of Die (SMED). The increased…
We are reminded time and time again (and rightfully so), Lean is about culture. It is a crucial part and in most cases, the backbone of any Lean organization. A culture that believes in continuous improvement and practices what they preach day in and day out, is the key to sustaining Lean. What’s less talked about, is what goes into a culture that allows it to gain…