sclog

An importance emphasis in lean is a focus on the customer.  Dev Patnaik has released a book called "Wired to Care: How Companies Prosper When They Create Widespread Empathy" (web site, book).  I’ve just read one of the sample chapters online (introduction), and in that section highlights how the bigger an organization gets, the more […]

Almost a year ago, I blogged about the Government of the State of Iowa and its lean efforts.  Right now, I am on the Lean Enterprise Institute’s "Success Stories" web site reading about another lean success story by David Drickhamer for the State of Iowa, this time for the Iowa Veterans Home in Marshalltown.
The article […]

Well, my first trade show is over.  It was a good experience!  I learned a lot (about being a vendor at a trade show instead of an attendee) and met some good people that are working hard to improve their organizations.

I made a quasi-three-dimensional tour of the vendor area.  You can view that here, […]

All setup for Lean Tech’s first trade show.  At the Marriott in Schaumberg, IL for Lean Manufacturing 2008: Lean Tools for Maintenance & Reliability.  Here’s my booth!

Thanks to Tom Flynn of Lessing Flynn in Des Moines for the awesome booth design, Chuck Bloyer at Beeline and Blue in Des Moines for the booth printing and […]

Thought I’d give a shout-out today to a local Pella business, Vermeer Manufacturing, which is celebrating its 60th Anniversary of being in business this year.  There is all kinds of Vermeer celebration-related activity going on around town right now, and I also stumbled upon this article about their 60 years in business.
Vermeer probably became famous […]

Great quote I just read in “Lean Enterprise Systems: Using IT for Continuous Improvement” authored by Steve Bell (I downloaded the pdf version, but can’t seem to remember from where right now):
“Society has reached the point where one can push a button and be immediately deluged with technical and managerial information. This is all very […]

…in Schaumburg, IL on October 6-8.  "Lean Tools for Maintenance & Reliability" is the tagline for the event.  Look for us at booth #112.  This is a first for Lean Tech, so we’ll see how it goes!  Should be a good opportunity to see how we can help people, as a lot of Lean Tech’s […]

Rob Tracy at Intek Plastics (one of my customers) has written this excellent synopsis on Driving Lean through Your Supply Chain.  Aside from discussing how the breakdown of your supply chain can negatively impact you and your customers and including a supplier checklist for your use, he also talks about the incorrect assumption that going […]

…and software can’t manage people.  This is the tag-line for our Thrive product.  Why?  Because this is true.  Software by itself typically adds no value to the process it is analyzing (this is a very scary thing for a software vendor to say!).  It is the interaction with software…the entering of data, the analysis of […]

Stumbled on this article which was posted on Thursday (7/17/08) about the Air Force District of Washington and its efforts to improve operations.  The article lists these five areas of focus: Productivity, Assets Availability, Response Time, Safety, and Energy Conservation.
These desired effects guide improvement initiatives that contribute to the demands of the warfighter—our most important […]