Use Gemba Walks to Uncover Problems & Promote Accountability
Gemba is a Japanese word that means the real place where value is created. A gemba walk is a management tool whose purpose is to have managers walk the front line where they can see problems as they are occurring, ask questions and allow them to create follow-up on problems and promote accountability. Problems are most visible where they occur and the best ideas for solving them will come...
Read MoreThe Search For A Good Quality Definition- A New Meaning For A New Decade?
As 2019 comes to a close, I’ve had the opportunity for the past week or so to stop and reflect about some of the things that have changed in my lifetime. Being in the quality field most of my professional life, I thought about how the definition of quality has changed in the past 40 to 50 years and how it shaped my career. I began by looking back at some of the “old quality...
Read MoreMake Sense of The Improvement Data You Collect
Most organizations can honestly say they have an abundance of data, but many flounder when it comes to having the right information to lead their companies to improvement. We collect data on all kinds of things but we rarely take the time to analyze it properly to learn what it tells us. Some Basics Regarding Data First of all, data is all around us! Everything we do produces data, every...
Read MoreOver-Processing Adds Costs to Products and Services For Which You’re Not Getting Paid
Ever stop to think how much you’re spending by over-processing the products and services you provide? If not, its probably because you don’t fully understand what over-processing is all about. Over-processing is defined as all the extra effort people go through in order to deliver the product or service. It’s actually giving something away for no return. Let me give you...
Read MoreDon’t Get Hung-Up In The Waiting Game
Waiting is a big part of our normal daily lives and something we typically take for granted. We wait for our first cup of coffee in the morning; we wait at traffic lights on our way to work; we wait for people to show up for a meeting to start; we wait in doctor’s offices; we wait for the end of the day so we can leave work; we wait in checkout lines at the grocery store; and some of us...
Read MoreIs Too Much Motion Tiring You Out?
Masaaki Imai in his book, Gemba Kaizen, A Commonsense, Low-Cost Approach to Management, states that any motion of a person’s body not directly related to adding value is unproductive. Some examples of motion waste include: Searching for jigs, fixtures, tools, files, etc. Bending to lift heavy loads Turning to retrieve or dispose of products Reaching for components and...
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