Dawning of a New Manufacturing Age
22 February 2010
By BILL WADDELL Abraham Lincoln talked in parables quite often and one of his favorites was to ask someone, "If you call his tail a leg, how man…
Taking Care of Knowledge During a Downturn
18 February 2010
By Kevin Meyer The last couple years have been tough for many organizations, and for some the downturn is continuing. How you treat your knowledge a…
Excellence Can Only Come From The Source
18 February 2010
by BILL WADDELL More years ago than I care to admit I became a plant manager at the ripe age of 29 with a mandate to fix a serious safety problem. I…
If Not ROI, Then What?
17 February 2010
By BILL WADDELL After years of trashing Return On Investment - the DuPont ROI model, in particular - as a measure of manufacturing success, or as the…
Obvious and Underutilized
16 February 2010
By Kevin Meyer Imagine my surprise when an article at the Harvard Business Review of all rags discussed poka yoke. Imagine my further surprise when…
How Did Cows and Dirt Get So Sexy?
16 February 2010
by BILL WADDELL So I'm reading this story over on CNN about a new corporate structure called an L3C that basically allows charities and foundatio…
Applying Product Design Methods to Government Policy Design
13 February 2010
By Kevin Meyer The opinion and letters section of the Wall Street Journal is always one of my favorite reads as it makes you realize, again, just how…
Andons and Problems at NUMMI
11 February 2010
By Kevin Meyer Interesting article by John Shook in the latest MIT Sloan Review on the culture at NUMMI. The GM-Toyota joint venture let Toyota expe…