Additional Notes on Efficiency TAGS: baseball reference | billy beane | boston red sox | continuous improvement | defects | dpmo | efficiency | energy conservation | field goal percentage | hall of fame | hoosiers | hr | indiana university | lean blitz | lean blitz consulting | lebron james | mcdonald's | miami heat | moneyball | obp | on base percentage | operations | paul depodesta | process | productivity | rbi | six sigma | sports | ted williams | victor oladipo On Monday we looked at efficiency with field goal shooting percentages for Indiana’s Victor Oladipo and the Miami Heat’s LeBron James as well as points-per-possession efficiency on offense and defense …Continue reading →

LeBron James, Indiana Hoosiers, and Efficiency TAGS: consulting | efficiency | indiana university | lean blitz | lebron james | miami heat | operations | points per possession | process | six sigma | sports | victor oladipo There’s a new Lean-related blog out on the interwebs about math calculations as they relate to Lean. The blog? LeanMath.com. They’re working on putting easy-to-understand spins on some less-than-obvious definitions …Continue reading →

Lean Memes Contest Update + ASQ’s Lean Handbook TAGS: adam savage | ame | american society for quality | asq | black belt | body of knowledge | bronze | busted | certification | consulting | continuous improvement | cost reductions | efficiency | error-proof | fact-check | green belt | guide | implementation | jamie hyneman | lean blitz | lean handbook | lean meme | leanblog | mark graban | mythbusters | operations | process | shingo prize | six sigma | sme | sports Last week was the conclusion of the Lean Memes contest organized by Mark Graban at LeanBlog.org. Many great contributions were submitted by many Lean practitioners/amateur comedians (finger pointing squarely at …Continue reading →

The Hassle of Rolling Loose Change TAGS: accuracy | augusta | bank of america | banking | branch | break | change | coins | coinstar | columbia | count | dime | efficiency | error-proofing | fee | georgia | lean blitz | lean blitz consulting | loose | machines | maintenance | nickel | operations | penny | poka-yoke | process | quarter | sleeves | south carolina | sports | teller | time savings Rolling loose change is a pretty annoying practice. It’s extremely time consuming, to the point that I simply collect coins in a large tin (or large plastic Coke bottle bank) …Continue reading →

What P90X and Lean Have in Common TAGS: 90 days | blitz | change | common sense | consulting | continuous improvement | difficult | doctor | efficiency | expert | fix | flip | hard | implement | improvement | infomercial | input | intense | lean | leaner | loss | magic pill | management | operations | optimization | output | p90x | pain | philosophy | problem | process | quick | quick fix | reduction | regimen | results | sigma | six | skeptical | solve | sports | sustain | switch | systems | testimonial | waste | weight We’ve all seen the infomercials. (Or have you? Maybe I need to minimize my late-night television viewing.) P90X is the relatively new home workout philosophy that consists of a training regimen …Continue reading →

Toyota Way Principle #10 and the Importance of People TAGS: 2002 | art | athletics | baseball | beane | billy | blitz | brand | constraint | consulting | cultivate | depodesta | develop | efficiency | front line | fuson | grady | howe | implement | knicks | lean | lewis | management | maximize | michael | mission statement | moneyball | new york | oakland | operations | operators | paul | people | peter | philadelphia | phillies | philosophy | principle | process | produce | six sigma | sports | teams | toyota | undervalued | value | victory | way | yankees (This is a continuation of the examination of the 14 principles of The Toyota Way.) It’s one thing to have a company philosophy and mission statement, as well as a …Continue reading →

Standardized Work – Speed vs. Consistency TAGS: blitz | consistent | continuous improvement | defects | delivery | efficiency | goods | improve | lean | mow | operations | process | productivity | results | rising tide lifts boats | root cause | services | six sigma | speed | sports | stable | standardized | step | teach | vital | work It’s safe to say that it’s ideal to have processes move as fast and consistently as possible. Speed and consistency are two big contributing factors toward productivity and efficiency. But …Continue reading →

Masters Pin Flag Giveaway Ends Tomorrow! TAGS: 2012 | blitz | bubba | efficiency | facebook | free | giveaway | lean | masters | operations | pin flag | process | six sigma | subscribe | twitter | watson Just a reminder that the 2012 Masters pin flag giveaway to subscribers has been extended to tomorrow night at midnight (well, 11:59 p.m.) so if you aren’t already subscribed or …Continue reading →

Cold Calling: The Pursuit of Happyness TAGS: blitz | chris gardner | cold calling | efficiency | lean | lean blitz | operations | phone | processes | pursuit of happyness | sales | son | sports | video | water cooler | will smith In this scene from The Pursuit of Happyness, Chris Gardner (played by Will Smith) demonstrates how reducing some wasteful activities in the office can make a big impact in productivity. …Continue reading →

Hit Factory: Using Statistics to Create Pop Success TAGS: bbc | efficiency | england | idol | lady gaga | music formula | nickelback | orwell | pop artists | pop hits | pop songs | pop success | record companies | statistical analysis | top 40 | university of bristol Scientists at the University of Bristol in England claim they have identified quantifiable factors that impact the success of pop songs on the charts. According to an article by BBC …Continue reading →

8 Wastes – Waiting TAGS: cleaning | concession stand | efficiency | kanban | labor balancing | lean | lean wastes | machine downtime | preventative maintenance | sales associates | standardized work | time studies | waiting (This is the third in a series of deeper dives into the 8 lean wastes.) We’ve all seen operators of a concession stand or sales associates on the floor of …Continue reading →

Time – The Non-Renewable Resource TAGS: china | cost savings | currency | democratic | efficiency | england | india | lean | marion barber | queen | savings | somalia | student | time | time savings | universal | value adding | waste The most important type of savings provided by lean implementation? It’s not money, it’s not people. It’s time. Time is the ultimate non-renewable natural resource. Once a second has passed, …Continue reading →

What is lean? TAGS: activities | assembly | atlas shrugged | blitz | consulting | cost | definition | efficiency | efficient | lean | lean blitz | money | operations | process | savings | six sigma | sports | time | transmission | value | waste Before you can run off and start using lean principles or figure out why lean is so important, you have to first ask, “What in the heck is ‘lean’ anyway?” …Continue reading →