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 →

Long Overdue Thank-Yous TAGS: augusta | baseball | blitz | consulting | continuous improvement | dayton | georgia | lean | ohio | operations | process | six sigma | sports | thanks With 2012 winding down, there are a few key posts I’d like to share before we flip the calendar to 2013. This first one is to recognize (just about) everyone …Continue reading →

Kickball Kaizen!! TAGS: adult | ballers | baseball | blitz | co-ed | columbia | consulting | curve | helping young professionals emerge | hype | kaizen | kickball | lean | miami | ohio | operations | piqua | pitching | playoffs | process | six sigma | south carolina | sports | troy | waka | world adult kickball association I love adult kickball, almost to the point of obsession. Combining co-ed athletic competition, a childhood staple, and the social atmosphere after games, I was hooked almost immediately after being …Continue reading →

Football Production Process – How Much Waste Is There? TAGS: ada | blitz | defects | downtime | effort | employee | ergonomics | excessive | football | handling | inventory | issues | knowledge | lacing | lean | leather | measured | motion | new york | nfl | ohio | operations | overprocessing | overproduction | perfect | perfection | players | process | production | sbnation | six sigma | sports | stitching | tenure | transportation | turning | video | waiting | wastes | wilson | wip | work in process To continue the series of posts on how sports equipment is made (see baseballs and bats as well) here’s the video from SBNation on Wilson’s production process for NFL footballs. …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 →

S.M.A.R.T. Goal Update TAGS: 5S | augusta | blitz | books | dayton | deck chair | desk | entertainment center | french bulldog | georgia | goals | goodwill | kitchen | lean | moving | ohio | operations | process | refrigerator | relocation | rooster | s.m.a.r.t. | six sigma | smart | sort | sports | television | u-shaped | weed trimmer | weights Back in January I provided a definition to S.M.A.R.T. goals (or smart goals) and also shared a few examples I have for myself. One of those goals is reducing the amount …Continue reading →

NCAA Tournament: Is Adding More Teams Better? TAGS: 2012 | basketball | blitz | champion | college | dayton | division I | expansion | first | lean | ncaa | ohio | operations | organization | priority | process | sagarin | six sigma | sports | tournament | usa today In my NCAA Tournament-viewing life, I’ve seen the bracket expand from 48 teams to 64 (with a couple choppy play-in iterations thrown in between), where it remained for many years …Continue reading →