Lean Insight and Product Reviews
5 min read Make Your Lean Six Sigma Project a Success Whenever you are using Lean Six Sigma to make improvements to your facility and eliminate waste, you need to make sure you take the time up front to plan it out properly. In fact, the planning stage is often considered the most important of the entire Lean Six Sigma process. During this stage you will be making a checklist to help make sure you don’t miss anything. …
5 min read How to Create a Solid Lean Foundation So, you’re looking to implement Lean in your workplace and aren’t sure where to start. Or maybe you’ve experienced some problems in previous or current Lean efforts and are trying to figure out why things aren’t quite falling into place. Whatever your predicament, we’re here to help. In this blog post we’re going to go over five of the best ways one can prepare their business for Lean …
4 min read The idea of 5S attracts a lot of “window shoppers,” who at first glance, become excited with the idea that they can transform their organization into a clean, organized, well working machine. However, turning their excitement into execution, is often times a challenge they are not prepared for. For many organizations, the challenge or lack of enthusiasm begins to set in after the third S. Once they have cleaned up and organized their facility, they …
3 min read Toyota defines Heijunka as the overall leveling, in the production schedule , of the volume and variety of items produced in given time periods and adds that it is a pre-requisite for just-in-time delivery. The basic Japanese translation of Heijunka, is “levelization.” Why Heijunka? Production leveling, as it is also referred to is essential to any Lean facility in their pursuit to eliminate waste and improve their production efficiency. Demands frequently change and without the …
3 min read Welcome to the fourth entry in the Theory of Constraints series. Much of the first three entries covered the basics behind the theory, including a broad overview of the process and the Five Focusing Steps in part one, the Thinking process in part two, and the accounting method known as Throughput Accounting in part three. This post will now compare and contrast the Theory of Constraints and Lean thinking. Lean and the Theory of Constraints …
3 min read A major focus within the Theory of Constraints is on increasing sales, rather than cutting costs. To keep the focus on sales, implementers of the process use an accounting method known as Throughput Accounting. The following is the third entry in a series of posts that explore the Theory of Constraints and it’s methodology. Part one of the Theory of Constraints series, offered a broad overview of the process, defined constraints, and provided a simple …
3 min read The following is the second entry into a series of ongoing posts that explores the Theory of Constraints and it’s methodology. Part one in the Theory of Constraints series gave a broad overview of the process, defined constraints, and offered a simple breakdown of the Five Focusing Steps. Part two will now expand on the Thinking Process behind the Theory of Constraints. The Theory of Constraints Thinking Process Like Lean, the Theory of Constraints takes …
3 min read The Theory of Constraints is a popular methodology for organizational change and improvement that was first conceptualized by Dr. Eliyahu Goldratt and introduced through his bestselling novel, The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement. The Theory of Constraints popularity grew quickly and is now a very popular methodology among many organizations. It’s growth and popularity has driven many to compare it to another improvement methodology that is also very popular –Lean. This is the first in a …
3 min read Coming up with the best design for your Lean facility is a task like no other. It’s takes more than skills and expertise to design a facility, especially one that emphasizes Lean philosophies. To construct a proper Lean layout, one must also add creativity to their skills and expertise to have success. It’s not a task for just anyone to take on, but sticking the these eight keys will help you get through your journey …
3 min read Value stream mapping is considered one of the most powerful visual tools in Lean. Regardless of the type of work you do, they can be an extremely useful part of your work and help eliminate waste, in areas you never knew waste existed. What is a Value Stream? A commonly used and basic definition of a value stream is as follows: All the steps, both value adding and non-value adding required to take a product …
