Quarter Reports Praise Lean Six Sigma

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CanLean Six Sigma help companies get through this economic downturn? Dale Barnhart, President and Chief Executive Officer at Lydall thinks so. In the Lydall 4th Quarter Earnings report he said: “I can’t emphasize enough the importance of Lean Six Sigma to Lydall in light of the current economic conditions. In 2008, the Company realized significant […]

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Six Sigma Intelligence Status Report

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After a long and extended absence, I am back to share some practical tips to help your Six Sigma program in times of economic turmoil. For starters, during the measure and analyze phases of a project, any of my readers know I talk about, this point of all projects and the introduction of BI, or […]

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Supply Chain Research

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Over the last couple of weeks I’ve been pouring over the latest iSixSigma survey results about the use of process improvement methodologies and models in the supply chain. So far I’ve found a couple of interesting things… 1. Success factors for implementing Six Sigma in supply chain are pretty consistent with implementing Six Sigma anywhere: […]

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Targets – Part 2

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In my last blog, Targets, I covered the situation of hitting time targets in a services environment. I thought I was onto something but wasn’t sure just what…….. Just to recap, people are targeted on delivering work within a certain time frame e.g. reply to a customer letter within X number of days. There was […]

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Gemba Academy Intro to Lean

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If you’d like to take a beginner’scourse on Lean, look to Ron Pereira’s Gemba Academy. He has releasedhis first video, Introduction to Lean Manufacturing. The clip below (and on the LSS Academy site) is the first 10 minutes of the 15 minute intro to Lean. Don’t waste another minute in Lean ignorance…

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Six Sigma Puts the Shush! on Library Inefficiencies

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This morning as I was reading my Six Sigma news feeds, I came across a mention of the Columbus Metropolitan Library (CML) crediting Lean Six Sigmafor their high service ratings. The use of Lean and Six Sigma outside the traditional business setting intrigues me…so I investigated further…It turns out that back in 2005 CML identified […]

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The Big Why

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Continuous Improvement is More Than Measurement

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Andrew’s recent reflections about the relevance of continuous improvement practitioners in these times mirror my thoughts with an added perspective. If lean thinking and continuous improvement were only about measuring production and process I would wholly agree. However, continuous improvement, in my mind, is more about positive change and moving toward perfection than it is […]

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WWDD?

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Perhaps you all arrived at this conclusion way ahead of me, but I’m starting to worry more and more about the way we, as continuous improvement professionals, are spending our time. It’s becoming increasingly clear that the world in general, and the economy in particular, has gone off meds. Yes, I know, this isn’t news […]

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The Six Sigma Lift

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As a former forklift operator, I can understand the complexities of forklift operations. I know absolutely nothing about forklift manufacturing, but one could argue that it might be harder to operate a forklift than build one… The very first Six Sigma project I ever heard about involved a forklift. It perked my interest, because naturally, […]

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Sensei Sue???

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I was talking with a group of people about leading lean, and someone asked me, “Are you a Sensei?” So of course I said “No!” I don’t call myself a Sensei, because I consider myself to be at the grasshopper-level of lean expertise. However, the question did make me think. I call myself a Black […]

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Defects in Healthcare

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Last Friday I taught a Lean Leadership class for my healthcare organization. The participants included all levels of support staff, physicians, nurses, anddepartment leaders. They grasped the concepts easily, and we had a lot of fun with the simulation exercise. In the first round, of course, no products made it to the customer. In the […]

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