Better Technology is NOT Always the Solution to the Problem TAGS: conservative | consulting | continuous improvement | daily show | fox news | glenn beck | jon stewart | lean | lean blitz | overprocessing | problem | solution | technology Last night a segment on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart poked a little fun (big surprise) at the new and allegedly better technology on Fox News for collecting and …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 →

Was Elvis Dumervil a Victim of Bad Process, Bad Technology, or Both? TAGS: agent | broncos | contract | defensive end | demaurice smith | denver | denver post | dumervil | elvis | espn | fax machine | lean blitz consulting | magid | mike klis | national letter of intent | nfl | nflpa | operations | overprocessing | photo | process | scholarship | sports | technology | video | waiting In one of the quirkiest NFL contract-related events, we present to you new accidental free agent defensive end Elvis Dumervil, formerly of the Denver Broncos. Dumervil, under contract with the …Continue reading →

Punxsutawney Phil and Measuring the Wrong Things TAGS: 5S | causation | combine | consulting | continuous improvement | correlation | day | draft | groundhog | indicators | lean blitz | manti te'o | measure | nfl | operations | overprocessing | pennsylvania | process | punxsutawney phil | react | scouting | six sigma | sports | standardized work | tom brady | visual   Every February 2nd Americans gear up for the grand indicator of how much longer winter will be with us – by checking in with a groundhog in Pennsylvania about …Continue reading →

2013 BCS National Championship and Silly Rules About Parking TAGS: 2013 | alabama | bcs | blitz | championship | college | consulting | continuous improvement | crimson tide | discover | florida | football | game | irish | lean | miami | national | notre dame | operations | overprocessing | parking | pass | process | radio | rules | six sigma | sports | sun life stadium | tailgate | traffic | will call As a lifelong lover of all things Notre Dame (for example, using them as examples in previous articles), I cannot put into words my level of excitement for the 2013 …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 →

Overproduction Example: Too Many Boxes! TAGS: beer | blitz | boxes | cleaning | concessions | customers | cycle time | forklift | hot dogs | inventory | lean | material handler | nachos | operations | operator | overprocessing | processes | productivity | safety | six sigma | sports | standardized work | supplier | thomson plastics | training As a refresher, the definition of the lean waste overproduction is the manufacture/assembly/production of more than what is needed at the time. An example of where overproduction can be a) …Continue reading →

Overprocessing Example: Protective Bags TAGS: bags | blitz | customer | end customer | flash | injection molding | knots | lean | muda | operations | overprocessing | plastic | processes | scrapes | scuffs | shipment | six sigma | sports | steps | thomson plastics | tickets | undo | wastes As a quick refresher, the lean waste overprocessing is the application of extra work, process steps, or effort than is required by the end customer. Sometimes “going the extra mile” …Continue reading →

Spotting Waste at the Stadium: Concessions TAGS: concession stand | defects | excess motion | hot dogs | inventory | lean | lean blitz | operations | overprocessing | overproduction | pop | popcorn | processes | production | scrap | six sigma | soda | sports | transportation | trash | waiting | waste So now we’ve identified the eight lean wastes and dug deeper into what kinds of havoc they can wreak on resources. Let’s go see if we can find these wastes …Continue reading →

8 Wastes – Overprocessing TAGS: bathroom | buff | candy bar | custodian | envelope | food | fortify | groundskeeper | hair | hot dogs | lean | manipulate | mickey mouse | natural | overprocessing | overzealous | packaging | paint | painting | security software | shine | spam | stadium | standardized work | t-shirt | ticket | ticket sales | walt disney world (This is the second in a series of deeper dives into the 8 lean wastes.) “Overprocessing” in the food world refers to the continual changing/adding/fortifying/manipulating of materials that takes it …Continue reading →

The Eight Lean Wastes – A Primer TAGS: acronym | barista | concession stands | defects | downtime | eight lean wastes | employee creativity | excess motion | excess production | hot dogs | ideas | inventory | overprocessing | rework | scrap | starbucks | ticket sales | transportation | waiting So I’ve mentioned becoming more efficient by reducing waste. “Waste” is generally described as trash or stuff we throw away but there’s actually a more broad definition that goes beyond …Continue reading →