A Surge in Major League Baseball Giveaway Defects TAGS: american | blitz | bobblehead | china | consulting | continuous improvement | defect | giveaway | jersey | king soopers | league | lean | major league baseball | mets | miguel cabrera | mvp | national | oops | operations | phillies | process | promotion | sports | troy tulowitzki | truck | tulowizki | w.b. mason Over the last 30 days, there have been at least three significantly notable Major League Baseball giveaway snafus with roots in poor quality. First, the Colorado Rockies celebrated their superstar …Continue reading →

2014 Masters: How Weather Affects Concessions and Masters Merchandise Inventories TAGS: 2014 | augusta | augusta national | blitz | club | concessions | consulting | continuous improvement | eisenhower tree | food | georgia | golf | inventory | lean | masters | merchandise | operations | process | sports | waste | weather Typically springtime weather in all parts of the country is crazy and hard to predict, but the last three years have seen upwards of 90-degree temperatures during The Masters Tournament …Continue reading →

Guest Post: NFL Football and #Lean TAGS: adapt | blitz | blog | christina | coach | consulting | football | guest | kach | lean | learn | liberty mutual | nfl | practice | practitioner | teach | tom brady | toyota Today we have a guest blog post from my friend, fellow Lean practitioner, and fellow blogger Christina Kach. She has been a guest blogger for Lean Blitz in the past, …Continue reading →

Around The Bases: Sochi Olympic Games Edition TAGS: barry zito | blitz | bobblehead | boondoggle | consulting | continuous improvement | control | core values | corruption | games | global rescue | lean | manufacturing | mark emmert | mets | mission | ncaa | olympics | operations | process | quality | respect for people | russia | safety | security | seth godin | six sigma | sochi | sports | toilet | vision | vladimir putin The Sochi Olympic Games begin in a couple of weeks – a lot more attention is being given to the enormous cost of hosting the Games, the LGBT uproar, and …Continue reading →

Nike Polos and Defects Leading to Recalls and Rework TAGS: alabama | college | consulting | defect | football | frank beamer | hubris | inventory | lean | lean blitz | nick saban | nike | operations | polo | process | pullover | quality | recall | rework | sports | swoosh | uni-watch | virginia tech I spend more words beating up on jersey, polo, and t-shirt manufacturers in my posts (see here, here, here, here, here, and here). Truth be told, they are organizations ripe …Continue reading →

Hours Before Marlon Byrd T-Shirt Night, Mets Trade Marlon Byrd TAGS: baseball | consulting | continuous improvement | defects | free | inventory | lean | lean blitz | local | manufacturer | marlon byrd | mets | new york | night | pirates | pittsburgh | printer | sourcing | sports | supplier | t-shirt | trade Today the New York Mets traded outfielder Marlon Byrd to the Pittsburgh Pirates via post-trade deadline waiver claim. Normally these kinds of trades are newsworthy because the Pirates are fighting …Continue reading →

#EarthDay 2013 and Conservation of Resources TAGS: 2013 | baseball | conservation | consulting | earth day | hot dogs | inventory | lean | lean blitz | operations | sourcing | sports | strategic | transportation | waiting Today is Earth Day 2013, and the Earth Day mission is to promote actions toward environmental protection and conservation. The focus of Earth Day 2013 is The Face of Climate Change. …Continue reading →

A #Lean Look at the #Baseball Jersey Manufacturing Process TAGS: baseball | buttons | error-proofing | inventory | jersey | jerseys | lean | lean blitz consulting | majestic | meredith marakovits | mlb | overprocessing | pants | pockets | production | sports | uniform | waste | yes network | zippers Rob Neyer of SBNation shared this great video from the YES Network on how Majestic manufactures the game jerseys for the New York Yankees. With an eye on the eight …Continue reading →

Lean or Sushi?? TAGS: 5S | ankimo | error-proofing | gemba | genchi cenbutsu | hanedashi | heijunka | hoisin | hokkigai | hoshin kanri | japan | kaikaku | kaizen | kanban | kani kamaboko | kazunoko | kim chee | koi | lean | lean blitz consulting | lean or sushi | mekajiki | mizusumashi | muda | muri | nagara | nama tako | nigiri | octopus | poka-yoke | quiz | saltwater carp | seiketsu | sumitomo | sushi | suzuki | tempura | unagi | yokoten Lean terms regularly applied in Japan don’t always get translated into English when the concepts are used in the United States. Reasons for this include lacking a concise literal translation …Continue reading →

Where I Got My Start In Lean (and Sports) TAGS: automotive industry | autonomous management | consulting | continuous improvement | dannon | dr. robert jacobs | eaton corporation | engineer | georgia | indiana university | kaizen | kelley school of business | l.a.m.e. | lean | lean as misguidedly executed | lean blitz | lean in name only | mark fougerousse | ohio | operations | optimization | plastic engineering technical services | pontiac coil | problem solving | process | root cause analysis | sandy cutler | six sigma | solving efeso | south carolina | sports | thomson plastics | tri-state university | trine | wastes I don’t often get to tell my story of how I got started with Lean, but more frequently I’m asked about how I’ve gotten into and what I’m doing with …Continue reading →

The Chicken Wing Shortage and Super Bowl Week TAGS: changeover | chicken wing | consulting | continuous improvement | darren rovell | demand | espn | lean | lean blitz | operations | optimization | peak season | process | rumor | shortage | smed | sports | super bowl | temporary staffing | wings There is a rumor, as seems to be every year for Super Bowl week, that we are suffering from a shortage of chicken wings. While it’s apparently true that the …Continue reading →

Modell’s Gets Burned on Tebow Jerseys and Linsanity TAGS: blitz | ceo | consulting | continuous improvement | darren rovell | domestic | espn | excess production | jeremy lin | jersey | lean | mark sanchez | merchandise | modell's | new york jets | new york knicks | operations | overseas | popular | process | production | six sigma | sports | tim tebow ESPN’s Darren Rovell shared an enlightening article today about the gambles taken by the sports merchandise store Modell’s in New York. Between “betting big” on Linsanity by ordering a slew …Continue reading →

The High Cost of Penny Production TAGS: 26 | augusta | blitz | cent | chemistry | consulting | continuous | copper | costs | currency | georgia | improvement | lean | liz hill | mint | molten | nbc | nickel | operations | penny | process | processes | production | reduce | six sigma | sports | treasury | united states | value | zinc In recent years I’ve heard rumors that the production costs and materials of a penny are greater than the value of the penny itself. In high school chemistry I recall …Continue reading →

Long Lead Times on Johnny Football Texas A&M Jerseys TAGS: 2 | adidas | aggie | aggies | blitz | bulk | college | consulting | continuous improvement | darren | espn | flexibility | football | jersey | johnny | late | lean | lsu | major league baseball | manziel | margins | mlb | national football league | nfl | nickname | operations | optimization | ordering | overseas | process | revenue driver | rovell | shipping | six sigma | sports | texas a&m Texas A&M’s redshirt freshman quarterback Johnny Manziel has certainly earned his nickname “Johnny Football” for both his passing and running abilities in leading his school to a solid season of …Continue reading →

Lean Tools: Standardized Work and Best Practices TAGS: 14 principles | activities | best practices | consulting | continuous improvement | cycle | excess | house of lean | lean | lean blitz | maximize | motion | operations | process | production | quality | repeatability | safety | six sigma | sports | standardized work | takt time | toyota way | waiting | walking | waste It’s been a long time since I’ve jumped into describing the Lean tools – I broke away to focus on the 14 principles of The Toyota Way, because they were …Continue reading →