You would never know it by reading the current lean literature, but twenty five years ago lean manufacturing was perceived to be primarily an alternat…

Most of us decry the sound bite nation - brief burps of information on the news that do nothing to inform the masses about complex situations. The ove…

Most people and organizations abhor and outright fear failure. Why? Failure can create an impetus for improvement like no other event. Last Thursday…

Suppose I were to ask you to count the apples in your house and tell me the result. Seems like a simple enough proposition, but as soon as you start t…

The other day I took a jab at managers who run purchasing guided by standard costs, describing how life might be if they were to run their homes by th…

No I'm not talking about the plethora of silly lean certifications - regular readers know that I believe only one, the AME/SME/Shingo Prize certif…

In my Supply Chain Risk 101 post last week Jim Fernandez asked a very good question - to wit, what if the stuff from the high risk place is really a l…

The supply chain disruption stories resulting from the disaster in Japan are reaching a ridiculous level. As much respect as I have for Ford and the w…