Why Players Hate The New NBA Jerseys With Sleeves TAGS: anger | basketball | blitz | consistent | consulting | continuous improvement | deployment | hate | jersey | jerseys | kaizen | lean | nba | pdca | pdsa | pilot | shirt | sleeves | sports | standardized | style | thinking The NBA unveiled new player jerseys with sleeves in advance of their Christmas day slate of games, where the jerseys would be used for the first time. Even before the …Continue reading →

The Toyota Way Principles and Small Business TAGS: blitz | coffee | consulting | continuous flow | continuous improvement | defects | do it right the first time | kanban | lean | level load | operations | optimization | principles | process | pull | scheduling | six sigma | small business | sports | standardized | total productive maintenance | toyota way | tpm | visual control | waiting | work | workload We’ve finally gotten through all 14 Toyota Way principles and what each of them can mean for business operations. But putting them all together can be a challenge, but certainly one …Continue reading →

Dirk Hayhurst on Positive Banned Substance Results TAGS: author | ball four | banned substance | blog | blogger | bullpen gospels | business | coach | dirk hayhurst | disrespect | garfoose | ignorance | jim bouton | lean blitz consulting | major league baseball | manager | marcus stroman | meetings | mlb | operations | organization | out of my league | ped | performance enhancing drugs | process | six sigma | sports | standardized | tampa bay rays | toronto blue jays | twitter | work | writer Full disclosure: I am a big Dirk Hayhurst fan. Dirk is a former Major League pitcher (who is presumably trying to get back to the bigs), but is probably better …Continue reading →

ESPN Outside the Lines: “What’s Lurking In Your Stadium Food?” TAGS: ballpark | blitz | cleaning | concession | consulting | defects | department | droppings | espn | food | health | indianapolis | lavigne | lean | mice | negligence | operations | optimization | organization | paula | principles | process | spoil | spoilage | sports | stadium | stand | standardized | super bowl | twitter | violations | what's lurking in your stadium food A couple years back ESPN’s Paula Lavigne came out with a startling report about some of the health department findings in various concession stands at major ballparks and stadiums across …Continue reading →

What Else Can Lean Implementation Save You? TAGS: batching | blitz | burden | coach | constant | continuous flow | cookie | ergonomics | faster | gemba | go | harder | lean | machine | muda | mura | muri | one piece flow | operations | operator | overburden | physical | principle | process | six sigma | sports | standardized | steps | stop | toy | toyota way | waste | work It’s been written extensively in this space that by reducing the lean process wastes through applying the lean tools you can streamline your operations and make better use of your scarce …Continue reading →

How Do We Establish A Standardized Process? TAGS: best | blitz | communicate | communication | continuous | customer | documentation | documented | implement | improvement | lean | measure | necessary | note | operations | optimization | paper | post-it note | practice | predict | process | project | require | simplified | six sigma | sports | standardized | sticky | time-based | work I’ve posted a lot recently about the importance of implementing a standardized process – the ability to audit and measure, the ease of implementing improvements across the board, establishment of …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 →

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 →

Golf Lessons and Being Open to Change TAGS: accept | advice | agent | augusta | blitz | change | chipping | club | country | design of experiments | doe | experimentation | expert | free | golf | lean | lessons | listen | masters | national | pro | process | six sigma | standardized | technique | unsolicited | work Just like last year, I was inspired to play golf more frequently after watching The Masters this April. While I haven’t frequently gotten to the course or the range, I …Continue reading →

Defective Product and Making a Wrong Turn TAGS: accurate | blitz | defects | document | garmin | gps | lean | map | mapquest | operations | process | resources | rework | scrap | self-discipline | six sigma | sports | standardized | tomtom | transportation | utilization | work To continue the unintentional theme of cars as metaphors for lean… I equate the creation of defective products and services to making a wrong turn and getting lost while driving. …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 →

The 14 Principles from The Toyota Way TAGS: augusta | blitz | club | consensus | continuous | continuous improvement | controls | customers | decisions | develop | employee | engagement | flow | gemba | golf | lean | learning | liker | masters | meier | national | operations | overproduction | partners | philosophy | principles | process | pull | reflection | reliable | six sigma | standardized | suppliers | technology | tools | toyota | understand | visual | way | work When I first started the Lean Blitz blog, I jumped right into the Lean wastes and initial discussion of the Lean tools. Looking back, what I should have done was …Continue reading →