ASQ Influential Voices: Sports Industry Manufacturing TAGS: adidas | andrew luck | asq | authentic | baseball | bell | blitz | consulting | domestic | easton | fabric | football | helmets | influential voices | jersey | johnny manziel | lean | made in the usa | manufacturing | moisture | new balance | nike | operations | process | production | quality | reshoring | riddell | shoes | sports | synthetic | under armour | wicking In a recent post in his blog A View From The Q, soon-to-be-retiring American Society for Quality (ASQ) CEO Paul Borawski gave a quick evaluation of the results from this …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 →

Safety, Common Sense, Product Recalls, and Poor Lennox TAGS: agenda | ambiguity | ants | belfast | bison | blitz | blog | bulldog | celebrity | city | cogburn | common | company | consulting | council | diamond | dna | dog | dog warden | domestic | educate | evidence | facebook | facts | feelings | food | foods | foster | french | gaston | gray area | high prairie | honest | huans | humanity | humans | judgment | labrador | lean | legal | lennox | life | lot number | manufacturing | matchbox | minimize | neutral | northern ireland | notice | objectivity | observations | operations | opinions | outbreak | page | pet | peter | petition | philosophy | pink slime | politics | process | processing | production | puppy | recall | relate | rescue | resemble | rob | robinson | rooster | safety | salmonella | save | sense | six sigma | south carolina | spiteful | sports | stillwell | stilwell | subjectivity | supercede | supply | system | taste of the wild | thomas | toyota | tractor | twenty | twitter | venison | victoria | way Through sharing of ideas and content in the Lean Blitz blog, on Facebook, and on Twitter, I do my best to follow some guiding principles and philosophies – present facts …Continue reading →

If You Don’t Have Standardized Processes You’re Wasting Money TAGS: best | blitz | concession stand | conditions | difference | labor | lean | manufacturing | margin | operations | practices | principle | process | processes | savings | six sigma | sports | standard | standardized | studies | time | toy | toyota | waste | wasteful | way | work That’s a very bold proclamation, but it’s true. It applies to every type of process – manufacturing toys, cooking burgers, coding medical charts, delivering mail, checking a customer out at …Continue reading →

Rushed Orders at Louisville Slugger TAGS: bats | blitz | deliveries | late | lean | louisville | manufacturing | mapping | neshek | norfolk | on-time | operations | orders | pat | pitcher | process | rush | six sigma | slugger | sports | tides | waste Norfolk Tides pitcher Pat Neshek took a tour of the Louisville Slugger factory while on a road trip and he shared this tweet and photo: Hopefully rushed customer requests happen …Continue reading →

State of the Lean Blitz Blog: April 2012 TAGS: activities | alignment | apparel | atlanta | audience | augusta | baseball | baseball winter meetings | basketball | bat | ben hill | blitz | blue | braun | braves | championship | club | cnbc.com | columbus | comments | communication | concessions | consultants | continuous | customer | darren rovell | david schoenfield | dayton | e-book | elmore | email | espn.com | experience | facebook | five whys | followers | football | georgia | giveaway | golf | google | greenjackets | group | hot dog | improvement | jackets | jersey | knowledge | lean | locker room | manufacturing | mascot | masters | merchandise | minor league | moneyball | movie | national | ncaa | notre dame | ohio | operations | pin flag | plus | principles | process | questions | respond | ryan | satisfaction | season | service | seth godin | silver hawks | six sigma | sneezers | Soccer | south bend | sports | sportsbiz | steroids | subscribers | subscriptions | sweetspot | t-shirt | tools | tournament | toyota way | twitter | waste | wastes I figured that since the blog is between 5-6 months old now that I provide a “state of the blog” address – what has changed since the blog first kicked …Continue reading →

Manufacturing Process of Baseballs TAGS: adhesive | baseball | blitz | center | core | cork | errors | lean | leather | lifting | machine | manufacturing | motion | neyer | operations | overseas | pill | poka-yoke | poly | process | rawlings | rob | rubber | sbnation | sew | six sigma | stamping | standardized | stitching | video | waste | weight | wool | yarn This is a great video on the baseball manufacturing process. So how many wasteful activities did you spot in the process? Here are some things I saw (obviously not comprehensive): …Continue reading →

Lean and Corporate Strategy TAGS: asheville | autonomous | blitz | block | budget | business | class | construction | continuous | destination | georgia | implementation | improvement | journey | leaders | lean | management | managers | manufacturing | modification | obstacles | operations | organization | pillars | planning | process | production | programs | road | roadmap | rock | six sigma | slide | small | south carolina | speed bump | sports | strategic | system | toyota | translation | world I’ve had the chance to talk to with a few companies during my current trip to Georgia and South Carolina about lean programs, implementation, and strategies. Each one was in …Continue reading →

Baseball Trade Show – Mascot Manufacturing TAGS: audit | baseball trade show | baseball winter meetings | costumes | data | erp system | inventory | lead times | lean | manufacturing | mascots | reorder point | safety stock | visual factory I had a chance to speak with a company that designs and manufactures mascot suits at the Baseball Trade Show last week. This company’s booth had a few mascot suits …Continue reading →

Baseball Trade Show – Licensed Merchandise TAGS: apparel | baseball winter meetings | china | jit | just in time | lean | major league baseball | manufacturing | merchandise | pittsburgh pirates On the first day of the Baseball Trade Show I was approached by a manufacturer/distributor of licensed merchandise for Major League Baseball about some issues he expects to encounter. His …Continue reading →