Good Advice for Anytime

I recently came across a good video that outlines several strategies for dealing with the recession.  These strategies come from Tom Peters, self proclaimed uber-guru, speaker, and author of recently released The Little Big Things: 163 Ways to Pursue EXCELLENCE.

Tom was apparently asked what you can do to deal with tough times.  While he admits there is no secret play book, magic wand to wave, or silver bullet to fix everything he does provide several cleaver strategies.

Some of my favorites from Tom Peters:

You dig deep, deeper, deepest – and always bring a good attitude to work.

You give a new meaning to the idea and intensive practice of "visible management."

You simplify.

You sweat the details as never before.

You learn new tricks of your trade.

You pass old tricks of the trade on to others – mentoring matters now more than ever.

You network like a demon inside the company – get to know more of the folks who "do the real work," and are/can be your most important allies when it comes to getting things done seamlessly and fast.

You network like a demon outside the company – get to know more of the folks "down the line, "who "do the real work" in vendor-customer outfits and can be your biggest allies and champions.

You redouble, re-triple your efforts to "walk in your customer's shoes." (Especially if the shoes smell.)

You leave the blame game at the office door.

You become a paragon of personal accountability.

It seems clear to me that these strategies will work just as well in good times as in bad.

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Do You Know How to Handle Your Constraint?

A recent plant visit was a real lesson in constraint management.  What I have found is that we have a weak knowledge of how to identify a bottleneck and how to effectively manage this constraint.

To discuss this subject it is important to start with defining the distinction between a constraint and a bottleneck.  A constraint is a resource with the highest load.  A bottleneck is a resource that is unable to meet current demand. Manufacturing processes can have multiple bottlenecks.  The constraint is the bottleneck whose performance is directly related to the overall system performance.

The roots of a bottleneck focused approach in operations management can be traced back to the days of Henry Ford. He understood that the workstation with the maximum processing requirement, denoted as the bottleneck, would constrain the output of the system.

Eli Goldratt who authored "The Goal" was one of the first to write about constraint management in what he called "Theory of Constraints".  Goldratt defined 10 principles for managing a constraint.  Note that below the word "bottleneck" is used, but it is often a constraint rather than a bottleneck.

1. Balance flow, not capacity.  During the manufacturing of a product there will inevitably be faster and slower processes.  Therefore effort should be made to achieve continuous flow of materials. 

2. The utilization of a non-bottleneck is determined not by its own capacity but by some other constraint in the system.  It is the bottleneck operation that should govern flow, therefore the capacity and utilization of non-bottleneck resources is mostly irrelevant.

3. Utilization and activation are not synonymous.  A non-bottleneck machine should not be 'activated' all the time because overproduction will result.  Utilization of the machine occurs when the machine is activated to produce at a balanced rate.

4. An hour lost at a bottleneck is an hour lost for the whole system.  Since the bottleneck governs the amount of throughput for the factory, if the bottleneck stops it is equivalent to stopping the entire factory.

5. An hour saved at a non-bottleneck is merely a mirage.  In effect increased capacity at a non-bottleneck is worthless.

6. Bottlenecks govern both throughput and inventory systems.  A factory's output is the same as the bottleneck's output, and inventory should only enter the factory at a rate that the bottleneck is capable of handling.

7. The transfer batch may not, and many times should not, equal the process batch.  A transfer batch is the amount of work in process inventory that is moved along between workstations.  To maintain flow and minimize inventory costs this batch should not necessarily equal the production batch quantity.

8. The process batch should be variable, not fixed.  The system should not be constrained by the artificial requirements that product must be made in one large batch.  The batch size of a bottleneck machine should not necessarily equal the batch size of non-bottleneck machine.

9. Lead times are the result of a schedule, and can not be predetermined.  Pre-specified lead times of typical MRP solution will not reflect the true situation.

10. Schedules should be assembled by looking at all constraints simultaneously.  Constraints may be in the form of machines, labor, and material.  You must consider them all together when scheduling.

These 10 principles can help plan production effectively.  The plant schedule should be organized around the constraint since it determines the throughput of the plant.  It is critically important to learn how to identify bottlenecks, determine the system constraint, and learn to leverage the constraint to your advantage.  All systems have a constraint and this will not change but how you deal with them can.

If you enjoy this post you may want to connect with me on Linkedin or follow me on Twitter.  You can also subscribe to this feed or email to stay updated on all posts.  For those Facebook fans join A Lean Journey on our facebook fan page.

Lean Quote, July 9, 2010: Courage to Succeed

On Fridays I will post a Lean related Quote. Throughout our lifetimes many people touch our lives and leave us with words of wisdom. These can both be a source of new learning and also a point to pause and reflect upon lessons we have learned. Within Lean active learning is an important aspect on this journey because without learning we can not improve.

Feel free to share some of your favorites here as well.

"To dream anything that you want to dream.  That is the beauty of the human mind.  To do anything that you want to do.  That is the strength of the human will.  To trust yourself to test your limits.  That is the courage to succeed." - Bernard edmonds, American Writer

History has proven time after time that the power of a thought is the beginning for actions that will alter the future positively. Understanding this, and having the courage to keep going even in the face of all obstacles, allows us to accomplish anything we want.

As you approach the tough decisions that challenge you, recognize these truths about courage:

1. Courage Begins with an Inward Battle - Courage isn't an absense of fear.  It's doing what you are afraid to do.  It's having the power to let go of the familiar and forge ahead into new terrritory.

2. Courage Is Making Things Right, Not Just Smoothing Them Over - Courage deals with principle, not perception.  It's knowing when to stand up and having the conviction to do so.

3. Courage in a Leader Inspires Commitment from Followers - A show of courage by any person encourages others.  But a show of courage by a leader ispires.  It makes people want to follow them.

4. Your Life Expands in Proportion to Your Courage - Fear limits a leader.  But courage has the opposite effect.  Courage not only gives you a good beginnig, but it also provides a better future.

To improve your courage try these three things: 

1. Take fear head on.  Go out and do something fearful simply for the sake of growing courage.

2. Don't avoid confrontation.  Speak with that person in your life truthfully.

3. Don't hold back.  Now is the time to take that first step on that action your too afraid to make.

Courage means trusting yourself to overcome your fears and doing what you are afraid to do. Courage increases conviction and inspires others to confront their fears.  Do you have the courage to succeed and make others succeed.


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Flow Requires “No” Vision

When Henry Ford introduced flow production in 1913, the objective was to drastically reduce throughput time and human effort. Continuous flow is producing and moving one item at a time (or a small batch of items) through a series of processes as continuously as possible.

Flow is one of five key Lean Principles identified by Womack and Jones in their book Lean Thinking. They stressed that you need to make value flow. It was this creation of flow that would make it possible to eliminate waste. When material and information flow continuously, there is less waste in the system. This is true by definition. If there were a lot of waste, material and information would not be flowing.

The most important thing in creating flow is having a vision of what that means. For me I think that requires having some “No” thinking.

No inventory
No subassemblies
No holding containers
No material handling
No backflow or rework
No defects
No inspection
No paperwork
No computer transactions/systems
No downtime
No delays
No cost

Many will say these are not possible within their organization or industry for that matter. But that would miss the point, which is vision: you may not get there within your lifetime, but try – others certainly will.


If you enjoy this post you may want to connect with me on Linkedin or follow me on Twitter.  You can also subscribe to this feed or email to stay updated on all posts.  For those Facebook fans join A Lean Journey on our facebook fan page.

Happy Birthday America!

"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

On July 4, 1776, we claimed our independence from Britain and Democracy was born. Every day thousands leave their homeland to come to the "land of the free and the home of the brave" so they can begin their American Dream.   We encourage all nations to celebrate with America.

To commerate this day of celebration I will leave you with some fun 4th of July Facts from the US Census Bureau.

Patriotic-Sounding Place Names

31, Number of places nationwide with "liberty" in their name. The most populous one as of July 1, 2008, is Liberty, Mo. (30,568). Iowa, with four, has more of these places than any other state: Libertyville, New Liberty, North Liberty and West Liberty.

•Thirty places have "eagle" in their name -- after the majestic bird that serves as our national symbol. (Places include cities, towns, villages and census-designated places.) The most populous such place is Eagle Pass, Texas, with 26,668 residents.

•Eleven places have "independence" in their name. The most populous of these is Independence, Mo., with 110,440 residents.

•Five places adopted the name "freedom." Freedom, Calif., with 6,000 residents, has the largest population among these. (This population total is as of the 2000 Census; no population estimate is available for Freedom because it is a census designated place.)

•There is one place named "patriot" -- Patriot, Ind., with a population of 189.

•And what could be more fitting than spending the Fourth of July in a place called "America"? There are five such places in the country, with the most populous being American Fork, Utah, population 27,06



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Lean Quote, July 2, 2010: Open-Mindedness

On Fridays I will post a Lean related Quote. Throughout our lifetimes many people touch our lives and leave us with words of wisdom. These can both be a source of new learning and also a point to pause and reflect upon lessons we have learned. Within Lean active learning is an important aspect on this journey because without learning we can not improve.

Feel free to share some of your favorites here as well.

“There exist limitless opportunities in every industry. Where there is an open mind, there will always be a frontier.” - Charles F. Kettering

To have an open mind means to be willing to consider or receive new and different ideas. It means being flexible and adaptive to new experiences and ideas.  Having an open mind doesn’t mean accepting everything as truth, but rather being open to new possibilities.

People who are open-minded are willing to change their views when presented with new facts and evidence.  Those who are not are resistant to change.  When you close your mind and become stubborn you essentially tell yourself and others that you're not willing to go the extra mile - that you're not willing to grow and experience new things. If you are not willing to grow, experience new things and instead choose to be stubborn or closed minded then there can be no change and no progress in life and things will never improve - it's that simple.

An open mind leads to new possibilities. New possibilities lead to new thoughts and experiences. New thoughts and experiences lead to growth. Therefore an open mind is important to our personal growth.

Being open-minded also helps us with problem solving.  First it helps us look at more than one way to approach a problem; then we find more expansive, ways of solving it. When we give ourselves more options, better solutions are undoubtedly more available to us.  Keeping an open mind means that you are open to all possibilities.

In my opinion being open minded is one of the most important traits for individuals to have in a Lean environment.  Without an open mind problem solving and learning will be more difficult and therefore delay your pursuit of excellence.


If you enjoy this post you may want to connect with me on Linkedin or follow me on Twitter.  You can also subscribe to this feed or email to stay updated on all posts.  For those Facebook fans join A Lean Journey on our facebook fan page.

Guest Post - Featured Lean Thinker: Tim McMahon

Jeff Hajek from the Gotta Go Lean Blog has started a new series of posts in an effort to build on the Lean community.  Every Thursday, he will profile a “Featured Lean Thinker”. These are the people who have a voice in the Lean community, and are shaping the way people think about and practice Lean. He will ask each person the same series of questions so you can get to know them a little better.

I am happy to kick off this series and be this weeks Featured Lean Thinker.  This is another great way to learn a little more about the man behind the posts from my answers to these questions:

What does Lean mean to you?
What was your first experience with Lean, and how did you know you were hooked?
What is your Lean claim to fame?
Where do you see Lean going in the future? What is on the horizon?

To see my thoughts on Lean view this weeks Featured Lean Thinker, here.  While you are there you can also listen to my podcast on frontline leadership with Jeff Hajek.

If you enjoy this post you may want to connect with me on Linkedin or follow me on Twitter.  You can also subscribe to this feed or email to stay updated on all posts.  For those Facebook fans join A Lean Journey on our facebook fan page.