What is Value? TAGS: baseball | bentley | blitz | cheap | chophouse | concessions | consulting | continuous improvement | cow | definition | kia | lean | luxury | operations | process | six sigma | sports consulting | steak | value | what is value As continuous improvement practitioners we are always discussing value-added versus non-value-added activities. We are also tasked with identifying cheaper or cost-cutting alternatives. Employees are considered valuable if they do the …Continue reading →

What the Trent Richardson Deal Can Teach Us About Lean TAGS: adrian peterson | agile | brandon weeden | cleveland browns | consulting | fishbone diagram | flexible | forklifts | indianapolis colts | interrelationship digraph | lean | lean blitz | lean manufacturing | metrics | six sigma | titanic | trade | trent richardson | value NFL trades happen very infrequently, especially in the middle of the season. Offensive and defensive systems all have steep learning curves, and to swap out pieces of the specialized schemes …Continue reading →

What is Quality? TAGS: asq | availability | consulting | defects | fitness for use | juran | lean | lean blitz | logo | philip crosby | quality | quality digest | rolex | sam houston state | timepiece | value | watch Because there are quite a few new readers of the Lean Blitz Blog (after the Masters pin flag giveaway and ASQ Influential Voices program participation both boosted viewership and subscribers) …Continue reading →

Customer Value is the Primary Goal of #Lean – Never Forget It TAGS: cleanliness | consulting | continuous | cost savings | customer | improvement | lean | lean blitz | mia | national league of families | pow | pow-mia | processes | six sigma | start | value The National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia was initiated by an uprising of servicemen’s families during the Vietnam War who demanded that action be taken …Continue reading →

The NFL Pro Bowl and Focusing On Things That Matter TAGS: all-star game | aloha stadium | change | concussion | continuous improvement | football | jeff saturday | kaizen | kyle rudolph | lean | nfl | operations | pro bowl | process | quality | six sigma | sports | super bowl | testing | that's the way we've always done it | value There is serious talk at the highest league levels about discontinuing the NFL Pro Bowl, and for very good reason. – The game really only serves as a vacation for …Continue reading →

The High Cost of Penny Production TAGS: 26 | augusta | blitz | cent | chemistry | consulting | continuous | copper | costs | currency | georgia | improvement | lean | liz hill | mint | molten | nbc | nickel | operations | penny | process | processes | production | reduce | six sigma | sports | treasury | united states | value | zinc In recent years I’ve heard rumors that the production costs and materials of a penny are greater than the value of the penny itself. In high school chemistry I recall …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 →

A Lamborghini & Process vs. System TAGS: activities | adding | blitz | bolster | capabilities | consulting | continuous | difference | driving | fancy | flow | gold | hammer | improvement | information | lamborghini | lean | management | metaphor | operations | optimization | optimize | procedures | process | productivity | scenarios | significant | six sigma | sports | subaru | success | system | tools | value | waste | wheel I have encountered multiple scenarios in my career where upper management was under the impression that putting in fancy new systems and technology would dramatically boost productivity and the quickness …Continue reading →

Vision and Value TAGS: ability | action | annie | associate | blitz | brand | cat food | cereal | consultant | consulting | detergent | difference | director | electronics | engineer | eradicate | expert | field | fish | fix | function | guru | improvement | indiana | irreplaceable | kelley | laundry | leader | lean | leibovitz | management | manager | marketing | mba | mentor | operations | opportunity | partner | photographer | pipe | plan | plumber | process | profession | retail | school | service | six sigma | sports | teach | university | value | vision | visualize Everybody has the opportunity to create value, in one fashion or another. A person can merely be a “warm body” that stands in as part of a process creating a …Continue reading →

Toyota Way Principle #1 TAGS: athlete | authors | baseball | basketball | blitz | business | coach | continuous | crean | david | games | goals | hoosiers | improvement | indiana | jeffrey | kelvin | kentucky | lean | liker | long-term | meier | ncaa | operations | organization | patrons | philosophy | principles | process | sampson | savings | short-term | six sigma | sixteen | sponsors | sports | student | sweet | tickets | time | tom | tournament | toyota | university | value | visual | way Yesterday we brought forth a bit of a visual depiction of what lean is and how it can impact a small business or sports organization. Hopefully we demonstrated the level …Continue reading →

So What Is Lean Anyway? TAGS: activities | blitz | burger | buttons | cash register | cashier | combination | defects | diet | excess | lean | lean enterprise institute | motion | non-renewable | non-value-added | operations | pop | process | resource | scrap | six sigma | soda | sports | time | timeline | transfer | transporation | value | value-added | waiting | wastes | what is lean We should step back and start from the beginning. Lean Blitz has already looked at the lean wastes, started to review some of the lean tools, and touched on the …Continue reading →

8 Wastes – Excess Motion TAGS: effort | ergonomic | excess motion | finished product | frequency | keyboard | lean | point of use storage | pous | raw materials | time | transport | transportation | value | wastes (This is the seventh in a series of deeper dives into the 8 lean wastes.) The lean waste known as excess motion is exactly that – having to move more …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 →