Archives - 2008

← Back to Archives

Dec 31 — What Won't You Do in 2009?
Dec 30 — Doonesbury on the Value of People
Dec 29 — $20 Billion Company CEO... Takes the Bus
Dec 28 — Factory Tour of the Week: Leatherman Pocket Tools
Dec 27 — Examples of Excellence: Another 5S Shadowboard
Dec 26 — No Christmas? Celebrate Beltane!
Dec 25 — Merry Christmas!
Dec 24 — Ban Supply or Decrease Demand?
Dec 23 — It's Work Rules, Not Pay
Dec 22 — Surviving China's Deep Contradictions
Dec 21 — Factory Tour of the Week: Widmer's Cheese
Dec 20 — Examples of Excellence: Caught Red Handed
Dec 19 — Is a No Layoff Policy Really Wise?
Dec 18 — Prepared for a Cliff?
Dec 17 — Blinders of Supply Chain Complexity
Dec 16 — McKinsey Gets It... For Once
Dec 15 — Is the VAT Really Simple?
Dec 14 — Factory Tour of the Week: Graphite Design Golf
Dec 13 — Charity Auction - Norman Bodek Collection
Dec 12 — The Opportunity of Bureaucracy
Dec 11 — Yet Another Regulatory Nightmare
Dec 10 — Australia Learns About Outsourcing Costs
Dec 9 — Focusing on the Small, Forgetting the Big
Dec 8 — Should Ford Learn From... Ford?
Dec 7 — Factory Tour of the Week: Irish Pizza
Dec 6 — Examples of Excellence: Starbucks Queue
Dec 6 — Newt on the Toyota Production System
Dec 5 — Lean Meets ISO... Only in California
Dec 3 — The Power of Visualizing People
Dec 2 — Aging Spaghetti
Dec 1 — Cashing in on an Abdication of Responsibility
Nov 30 — Superfactory LinkedIn Group Hits 1,000
Nov 30 — Factory Tour of the Week: Shizuoka Tea
Nov 29 — Examples of Excellence: Training Level Board
Nov 28 — A Lean Mid-Life Crisis?
Nov 27 — Thoughts on Communication Poka Yoke from Japan
Nov 26 — A Prescient Joke
Nov 25 — Lean Medical Coding?
Nov 24 — Talking Turkey on Leadership
Nov 23 — Factory Tour of the Week: Burton Snowboards
Nov 22 — Examples of Excellence: Visual Scheduling
Nov 21 — A Visit to American Apparel
Nov 20 — Those Dang Fasteners. Again.
Nov 19 — Did Lego Learn a Lesson? Did You?
Nov 18 — The Myopic Misfocus of Labor Time Standards
Nov 17 — On the Road to Zimbabwe
Nov 16 — Factory Tour of the Week: Stern Pinball
Nov 15 — Examples of Excellence: Crosstraining Board
Nov 14 — Yes, Failure is an Option
Nov 13 — Lessons from Japan: Rapid, Disciplined Problem Escalation
Nov 12 — Stand Up Desk - Update & More Science
Nov 11 — Japan Kaikaku Experience - The Summary
Nov 10 — Trickling Down on Detroit
Nov 9 — Factory Tour of the Week: Pepin Garcia Cigars
Nov 8 — Examples of Excellence: Stand Up Desk
Nov 7 — Shipping Water Across Water
Nov 6 — The Dilution of the Shingo Prize
Nov 5 — Lessons from Japan - The Speed of Change
Nov 4 — Lessons from Japan - Harmony, Chaos, and Ruthlessness
Nov 3 — Lessons from Japan - Stand for Action
Nov 2 — Factory Tour of the Week: Dell Computers
Nov 1 — Examples of Excellence: A3 Project Prioritization
Oct 31 — JKE Day 4: 3S Gone Wild
Oct 30 — JKE Day 3: TOTO - Cells, Cells, and More Cells
Oct 29 — JKE Day 2: Saishunkan Cosmetics - Customer Care Trumps a Factory
Oct 28 — JKE Day 1: Toyota Kyushu - The Manufacturing Ballet
Oct 27 — Thoughts on Flow on the Way to Japan
Oct 26 — Factory Tour of the Week: Lost Surfboards
Oct 25 — Examples of Excellence: 5S Reminder
Oct 24 — Off to Japan
Oct 23 — Notes from the AME Conference
Oct 23 — Evolving Excellence Endorses...
Oct 22 — Debating Manufacturing... Not
Oct 21 — Public vs. Private Company Managers
Oct 20 — WaPo Sees the Balloon
Oct 19 — Factory Tour of the Week: BMW Munich
Oct 18 — Examples of Excellence: Shadow Board
Oct 17 — Feeding Generation Y
Oct 16 — Carl Icahn and the Value of People
Oct 15 — Gotta Love Dov
Oct 14 — Toyota Knows Brains
Oct 13 — Here Comes India, No Bailout Required
Oct 12 — Stop Watching "Lost"
Oct 11 — SNL Hits a Home Run
Oct 10 — Improving By Getting Out Of The Way
Oct 9 — Fun With Statistics, Carbon Footprint Edition
Oct 8 — A 5am Wakeup Call
Oct 7 — Compensating Risk
Oct 6 — The Lesson of a Stinky Basement
Oct 5 — Even Sweden Gets It
Oct 4 — New Blog: Lean Companies
Oct 3 — The "Other" Bailout, Part 4
Oct 2 — An Off Day for the Always On
Oct 1 — Management Improvement Carnival #44
Sep 29 — Accountability Wins... For Now
Sep 29 — Confronting the Global Talent Crunch
Sep 28 — Time for a Vaccine DOE?
Sep 27 — Email, Lean and Concise
Sep 26 — Must New Come From the Old?
Sep 25 — Why Companies Succeed at Lean
Sep 24 — Sloan Blows Lean 101
Sep 23 — The Balloon Finally Pops
Sep 22 — What's Dov Been Up To?
Sep 20 — The Double-Edged Productivity Sword
Sep 19 — The Smoking Hot Blonde of Kaikaku
Sep 18 — Predictions from Employees
Sep 17 — Is the Four Hour Work Week Really Lean?
Sep 16 — Sensei Asks: Middle School or First Grade?
Sep 15 — Bailout, Part Three
Sep 14 — Wasting Time on Cultural Nuance
Sep 13 — Lean Thoughts From Geneva
Sep 12 — Time - The Online Truly Finite Resource
Sep 11 — Fun With Statistics, Road Improvement Edition
Sep 10 — Here Come the Challengers
Sep 9 — Lean Companies in the News
Sep 8 — An IT Guy Gets Lean
Sep 7 — Stop the "Mean" Already!
Sep 6 — The Curse of Global Solitaire
Sep 5 — GAAP RIP
Sep 4 — The Value of a Whopper
Sep 3 — Lean Banking
Sep 2 — Bailout, Part Two
Sep 1 — The Waste of Unnecessary Complexity
Aug 31 — WaPo Continues To Ignore the Facts
Aug 30 — An Unfortunate Rhyme
Aug 29 — Bailing Out Pathetic Leadership
Aug 28 — The Window is Closing
Aug 27 — Toyota: Pioneer of Momentum
Aug 26 — Four More Hours of Lean
Aug 25 — Poka Yoke "Disasater"
Aug 24 — Another Perspective on Change
Aug 23 — Shifting Paradigms, Part 2
Aug 22 — Shifting Paradigms, Part 1
Aug 22 — 2k + 1k + 2k = Loads of Fun
Aug 21 — American's "Improved Access" Strategery
Aug 20 — The Irish Could Learn From the Vietnamese
Aug 19 — McKinsey Looks at Supply Chain Complexity
Aug 18 — Lean Olympians Take Time
Aug 17 — The Fine Print Risk of Lean
Aug 15 — Another Company Smarter Than the Fortune 50
Aug 14 — IW Swings Both Ways on Robots
Aug 13 — Are We To Blame?
Aug 12 — China Begins to Recruit Globally
Aug 11 — Draining the... err... Stench
Aug 9 — Slowing the Entrepreneurial Engine
Aug 8 — The Climate Change Chain
Aug 7 — An Interesting Review of Bill's Book
Aug 6 — The Arbitrary Calendar Year
Aug 5 — What is a Windfall?
Aug 4 — Four Hours of Lean
Aug 3 — Beware the Prism
Aug 2 — Big Boy Toys
Aug 2 — NAFTA & Wal-Mart Create Inequality... Sort Of
Aug 1 — Us It Or Lose It... Or Create Waste
Jul 31 — Sloan Tackles Lean Accounting
Jul 30 — Southwest's Colleen Barrett, Servant
Jul 29 — Lean Hospitals - Q&A with Mark Graban
Jul 28 — The Sense of Manufacturing
Jul 27 — Supply and Demand for Lawyers... and Doctors
Jul 26 — SAP Gets Fat, You Get Thin
Jul 25 — Creating an Internal Manufacturing Competency
Jul 24 — A United Pilot Remembers the Customer
Jul 23 — Manitowoc Leads the "Revival"
Jul 22 — Not Learning the First Time Around. Or the Second.
Jul 21 — The Squirrels of SAP
Jul 20 — Will Obama Learn from Europe?
Jul 19 — Leaving Oz for Kansas Technology
Jul 18 — McKinsey Figures Out Value - 20 Years Later
Jul 17 — Boeing Plays Whack-a-Supplier
Jul 16 — The Danger of Attacking Waste
Jul 15 — Beware the Expensive Castle
Jul 14 — Nardelli - Customer Advocate?
Jul 13 — Power to the People
Jul 12 — It's Global, Baby
Jul 11 — Leadership in the Internet Age
Jul 10 — The Real Reason for the Chevy Volt
Jul 9 — The Value of Not Overthinking
Jul 8 — Maybe They'll Listen to Womack
Jul 7 — The UK Goes Lean on Food
Jul 6 — Tax Sensitivity 101
Jul 5 — Lean Companies in the News
Jul 4 — Too Bad, So Sad
Jul 2 — Incentives to Retain Knowledge
Jul 1 — The Contradictions of Toyota
Jun 30 — WaPo Deludes The Masses, Again
Jun 29 — Global IQ Quiz - The Answers
Jun 28 — Global IQ Quiz - The Questions
Jun 27 — Join Me in Japan!
Jun 26 — The Buzzword of Customer
Jun 25 — Small Batch Elderly Care
Jun 24 — Saving By Just Asking
Jun 23 — Adventures in Electronic Healthcare
Jun 22 — Letting Hype Confuse Intelligence
Jun 21 — Questions of Leadership
Jun 20 — Fun With Statistics, Overhead Edition
Jun 19 — Snoop Dog, Six Sigma Black Belt
Jun 18 — Spelling Impacts Perception of Quality
Jun 17 — Toyota Puts People First
Jun 16 — Poverty-Fighting Free Market Peruvians
Jun 15 — Push vs. Pull Garbage Collection
Jun 14 — Dilbert in Real Life
Jun 13 — Welcome Home and Good Luck
Jun 12 — The Speed of Change
Jun 11 — Competing in the Afterlife
Jun 10 — Do You Know Your Tata's?
Jun 9 — Windfall Profits Tax on Harvard?
Jun 8 — A $1.4 Billion Lesson in Standard Work
Jun 7 — Poka Yoke the Dollar Bill
Jun 6 — Productivity is Not Quality
Jun 3 — Group Soak
Jun 1 — SF20 Goes Positive in May
Jun 1 — Evolving Excellence - Now Mobile
May 31 — Boeing 777 in Four Minutes
May 30 — Productivity: Eliminate Before You Optimize
May 29 — Flying Composites
May 28 — Is Invincible Invincible?
May 27 — Dell Cookie Dough
May 26 — Thank You
May 25 — Different Approaches to a Truck Slowdown
May 24 — A Violinist in the Bronx
May 24 — We Are ®
May 23 — A Trifecta of Good Letters
May 22 — But Can GM's Robots Conduct?
May 21 — Evolutionary Economics: Focus on the Customer
May 20 — Dov's Short Elevator Trip
May 19 — Motorola Kills the Future
May 18 — A Lean Approach to Poverty
May 17 — Alan Garcia Sees the Right
May 16 — Why... Do We Return?
May 15 — Management Improvement Carnival #35
May 14 — Self-Segregating People Flow
May 13 — The Productivity Conundrum... Again
May 12 — Woes of Dream Factories
May 11 — Senior Associate Ladder Climber
May 10 — Vigilant People
May 9 — Others Forget About People
May 8 — Lean ERP Survey...
May 7 — Message to Hillary: We Still Make Stuff
May 5 — Ghost Kanban
May 4 — Fun With Statistics, Percentile Problems Edition
May 3 — Fujio Cho Reminds Us About People
May 2 — Does Kerkorian Read Evolving Excellence?
May 1 — Superfactory 20 Widens the Gap
Apr 30 — Fun With Statistics, Lazy Women Doctors Edition
Apr 29 — Getting Paid Not To Work
Apr 28 — Costco vs. the Lean Corner Store
Apr 27 — Morro Bay Coffee Learns From Starbucks
Apr 26 — What If Your Best Wasn't Needed?
Apr 25 — Teaching Penguins to Fly
Apr 24 — Wisconsin Outsmarts China... for Now
Apr 23 — Nowhere To Run, Nowhere To Hide
Apr 22 — da Vinci - The First Lean Thinker?
Apr 21 — Poka Yoke Where the Sun Don't Shine
Apr 20 — Turn Michigan into a Park?
Apr 19 — Fun With Statistics, Bachelor Edition
Apr 18 — Dreamliner Weinermobile and Lean
Apr 17 — Is Microfinance Lean?
Apr 17 — Featuritis Curse
Apr 15 — Change Through Ownership
Apr 14 — WaPo Flubs Another One
Apr 13 — Superfactory Giving Back - Kiva Micro Loans
Apr 13 — Waste Index
Apr 12 — American Apparel Opens the Kimono
Apr 11 — Indexed
Apr 10 — Feeble Attempt, No Cigar
Apr 9 — CEO Impact... and Pay
Apr 8 — Boeing's Confused Union Boss
Apr 7 — Respect by Retrain Not Replace
Apr 6 — Dell Gives Up On... Dell
Apr 5 — Fabs That Refuse To Die
Apr 4 — Rational Chimps, Fair Economists
Apr 3 — Subliminal Creativity, Courtesy of Apple
Apr 2 — Superfactory 20 - March Results
Apr 1 — Aircraft Outsourcing Problems - With a Twist
Mar 31 — Fleeing China
Mar 30 — Transtemporal Outsourcing
Mar 29 — Survey: 3 Respondents Required
Mar 28 — Massachusetts' Manufacturing Conundrum
Mar 27 — Nike - Lean in China?
Mar 26 — The Quandary of Sales Incentives
Mar 25 — If Only Boeing Still Had Employees
Mar 24 — Don't Forget Rule #1
Mar 24 — Last Year a Day, This Year 30 Minutes
Mar 16 — Mass Customization in Pharma
Mar 15 — I'm Giving Away an iPod Touch!
Mar 15 — Joseph Weizenbaum: Fighting the False Gods
Mar 12 — So Who's More Patriotic?
Mar 11 — The Root Cause of Email Overload
Mar 10 — Boeing: Whiner Extraordinaire
Mar 9 — New Lean Manufacturing Training Products
Mar 7 — Globalization and Tuscany's Hill Towns
Mar 6 — The Worker as National Asset
Mar 5 — Building an Empire Takes Time
Mar 5 — Onshoring: Bucking the Trend
Mar 3 — February Results for the Superfactory 20
Mar 2 — Today I Left the Dark Side
Mar 2 — A Little Different: Baby Names
Mar 1 — Boudreaux, In Action
Feb 28 — Lean Blog Will Return
Feb 28 — Falling Taxes... Except Here
Feb 27 — Success in the U.S. - Metal-Tech
Feb 26 — Rockwood Gets What Whirlpool Forgets
Feb 25 — Continuous Improvement in the Classroom
Feb 24 — People Chain Management
Feb 23 — A Little Different: Google Sightseeing
Feb 21 — Lego's Outsourcing Adventure, Part Trois
Feb 19 — Fun With Statistics, Fad Edition
Feb 19 — Lenovo, and Soon 10,000 More
Feb 17 — Evolving Excellence in the News
Feb 16 — Marxist Flow?
Feb 15 — Could Lean Have Saved Linda?
Feb 15 — Candy for Valentines
Feb 13 — Circumventing the Credit Crunch
Feb 12 — Need Some Eager Workers?
Feb 10 — Pay Me Now Or Pay Me Later
Feb 9 — Kudos to Cascade Designs
Feb 8 — Half Right... No, Not Even
Feb 6 — Lean Public Services
Feb 5 — Missed Opportunity Spawns a Competitor
Feb 4 — Just a Bowl of Brains
Feb 2 — More Dangers of Horizontal Surfaces
Feb 1 — Superfactory 20 Beats S&P 500... Barely
Jan 31 — Barring Brilliant Minds
Jan 30 — China Begins to Outsource
Jan 29 — Respecting Kids Through Visual Management
Jan 28 — Excessive or Progressive CEO Pay?
Jan 27 — Why Did THAT Happen?
Jan 26 — Asking Why in IT
Jan 25 — No Titles Except "Plant" Manager
Jan 24 — Boeing Should Learn from Vought
Jan 23 — 4 Months To Fix 218,000 Factories
Jan 21 — Merck is Looking LAME
Jan 19 — Companies in the News
Jan 19 — 21... And Hopefully Counting
Jan 16 — Boeing's Woes Continue
Jan 14 — Lean and Green Summit
Jan 13 — Developmental Efficiency
Jan 12 — Leadership as a Product
Jan 11 — People in the New Year
Jan 10 — SMED at 30,000 Feet
Jan 9 — Lean is Not Lean
Jan 8 — Forget the Painters, Just Create Artists
Jan 7 — Parade, Bhutto, and Long Lead Times
Jan 6 — Good Luck With That...
Jan 6 — Congrats AME!
Jan 4 — The Waste of Color