Is #continual business #transformation a must?

A great article by Torben Rick For companies that don’t want merely to #succeed in their industries but to lead them, continual business transformation is a must. The drivers of transformation vary widely, ranging from the increased globalization of markets, disruptive technology, shifting energy prices, consumer expectations. Whatever the business driver, the initiatives born from strategic calls to action will always

Manufacturing’s Future: How to Engage and Retain Gen X & Y

This is a great article written by Dan Batson According to a recent Gallup Poll, the American workforce is distinctly divided into thirds. While the “live-to-work” baby boomers make up about 31%, and the “self-reliant” Generation X has 32%, the “Me Generation” or Millennial Generation comes in at about 33%… READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Not Everything That Can be Automated Should Be

Article written by Robert Simonis (RESOURCE: http://www.sme.org) Robert H. Simonis is the Senior Consultant for Manufacturing and Operations at KCE Consulting LLC.  Robert has over twenty years of leadership experience including ten years factory management and ten years of global responsibilities in automotive, electronics, machining, and complex assembly operations and is recognized as a Lean enterprise expert The assembly cell

What’s the point of Lean training?

This is great article written by David Bovis. I love to hear people discussing the importance of ‘Purpose’ and how it has to be clearly defined at all levels of an organisation, if alignment and accountability are to flourish. It reminds me of the philosophy I’ve read, in which it has been agreed across the ages that through language, the

Britain’s economy: Boosting productivity with Lean Six Sigma

Britain’s biggest problem today is not the deficit but stagnant productivity growth that leaves output per hour 2% below its peak in 2008 (see article). The country’s economic future depends far more on… READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Flow Where You Can, Pull Where You Can’t

This is a great article wrote by Mike Orzen It seems that since the beginning of time we’ve all learned, “Lean is about continuously developing people and improving processes to create and flow value to customers using the least possible resources required.” Value of products and services is created through a series of work processes, some which create value and some

How Wrong Representation of Problem Can Hamper Your Improvement Journey

This an interesting article wrote by Mr. Nitali Zaveri Many organizations are perusing Six Sigma as an organization philosophy to improve process performance. One of our clients, a leading manufacturer of the capital machineries was interested in understanding and perusing Six Sigma. So they called many consultants for discussion including our consulting company. We proposed to conduct… READ THE FULL

Why Lean Six Sigma is Bad for Not-For-Profit

This is a very interesting article wrote by Georgina Hust. Broadly speaking Lean is the process of reducing waste, while Six Sigma is a tool which seeks to identify and reduce variation and defects. Both are focused on improving processes, quality of service and therefore customer satisfaction. READ THE FULL ARTICLE

5X Why most Leaders are not Good Enough

This is a very interesting article wrote by Philip Holt! Jeffrey Liker first provided real insight into Lean Leadership in his book, the Toyota Way , in 2003. This followed on from the insights into the Toyota Production System, or Toyota Way, that Womack and Jones had first introduced to us in the 1990s and attempted to provide insight to the

Who said Lean Six Sigma is not about People?

Article written by Michael Ballè Without mastering these seven foundational behavioral skills, even with their heart in the right place, leaders fumble their presence at the gemba and, consequently, feel disappointed by the bottom-line results they get from their lean efforts. With Lean Thinking, Jim Womack and Dan Jones ushered a true (and rare) revolution in management thinking: To deliver a

How to program a robot in less than 2 mins

IndustryWeek Technology Editor Travis Hessman put Ed Mullen, Universal Robots national sales manager, on the spot, asking for a live demonstration of how to program the company’s latest robot. It took Mullen less than two minutes to complete a demonstration. How long would it take for an operator to learn? “Five minutes,” asserts Mullen. Do you want to share your