Happy Labor Day! - Fun Facts and More

Observed on the first Monday in September, Labor Day pays tribute to the contributions and achievements of American workers. It was created by the labor movement in the late 19th century and became a federal holiday in 1894. Labor Day also symbolizes the end of summer for many Americans, and is celebrated with parties, parades and athletic events.

Here are 11 interesting facts that you might not know about regarding Labor Day:

1. The first celebrated US Labor Day was on Tuesday, September 5, 1882 in New York City, planned by the Central Labor Union.
2. 10,000 workers marched from City Hall all the way to 42nd Street and then met with their families in Wendel’s Elm Park for a picnic, concert, and speeches.
3. Canada is said to have originated the idea of hosting a day honoring the labor movement. In 1872, they held a “Nine-Hour Movement” to show support for striking workers.
4. There is disagreement about who actually proposed Labor Day as a holiday. Some say it was Peter J. McGuire, who was the cofounder of the American Federation of Labor. Others believe that it was Matthew Maguire, a machinist.
5. Oregon was the first state to celebrate Labor Day as a legal holiday in 1887.
6. The decision to make Labor Day the first Monday of September was approved on June 28, 1894.
7. Labor Day started as a part of the labor union movement, to recognize the contributions of men and women in the US workforce, but modernly is seen as a chance to celebrate the last weekend of summer.
8. Americans worked 12-hour days seven days a week during the 19th century!
9. The Adamson Act was passed on September 3, 1916 to establish an eight-hour work day.
10. Historians say the expression “no white after Labor Day” comes from when the upper class would return from their summer vacations and stow away their lightweight, white summer clothes as they returned back to school and work.
11. There is still a Labor Day parade in New York City, which takes place throughout the 20 blocks north of the 1882 labor march.

So there you have it. Perhaps a few things you already knew about Labor Day, but hopefully a few that you didn’t.

We celebrate Labor Day because we are all in this world of work together. Let’s enjoy the fruits of our labor and the solidarity of workers, the work we do, and the nation and economy we and our parents and their parents have built. Happy Labor Day!

Lean Quote: Everything Can Be Improved

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.

"Everything can be improved." — Clarence W. Barron

I believe this quote is true. I also believe it is the basis for Lean thinking. It is easy to get discouraged by all the problems we face. We can founder on our problems or we can accept the fact that problems can be solved and things can be improved. The choice is ours. Lean thinking is the belief that everything can be improved.

Clarence W. Barron was the president of the Dow Jones & Company. He managed the Wall Street Journal. He was born on July 2, 1855 in Boston, Massachusetts and died October 2, 1928.

Barron was a formidable man. He was known as a powerhouse. He had great energy and sought to improve many things. He understood the power of this phrase, this idea. He believed it just as I do. In addition to buying the Dow Jones Company he founded various journals including Barron’s Financial Weekly. He is credited with founding the modern concept of investigative financial journalism.

Certainly it was Barron’s philosophy that everything could be improved and he sought to do just that in his field of financial journalism.

Just as Barron strove to improve his industry we can all continuously strive to improve the work we do whatever it may be. I invite you to join me in adopting and implementing this credo: everything can be improved and there is nothing that serves mankind better than the continuous improvement of all human endeavor.

 

Speaking at the Northeast Lean Conference

Successful Lean transformation requires a deep understanding of the technical side of Lean supported by a culture that favors human development and broad employee engagement.


But which comes first: culture or tools...?

Come to the conference and you'll learn more.

I will be presenting at The Northeast Lean Conference in September in Worcester, MA on a topic I've covered here a few times.

SIPOC – The First Picture of Your Process
Wed Sep 20, 2017
10:00 AM - 10:50 AM

Description

Whenever you are planning to start some process improvement activity, it’s important to capture an easily communicated picture of the current process first. A SIPOC (Suppliers, Inputs, Process, Outputs, Customers) diagram identifies at a high level the potential gaps (deficiencies) between suppliers and process inputs and between output specifications and customers’ expectations, thus defining the scope for process improvement activities. In this interactive session, you’ll learn to understand the fundamentals of creating an SIPOC diagram, demonstrating how you can dissect a process and create a workable improvement plan that can be applied in your everyday workplace. Armed with a detailed and shared visual understanding of how work actually occurs, the organization can more easily identify project ideas for improvement.

Hope you can join me at this exceptional industry event for Lean practitioners in a few short weeks.

See You Soon!

Blog Vacation Till August 28th! 

Here is a collection of the Top 10 posts for 2016 by views:

10. How to Avoid 6 Common Pitfalls of Process Mapping

Creating a process map is a relatively straight forward process but some mistakes can derail the process so avoid these most common pitfalls.

9. Sixteen Human Error Modes for Mistake Proofing

When performing a mistake-proofing analysis on a manufacturing, service or business process, it is of course important to identify every human error possible during each process step.

8. 5 Steps for Creating a Lean Roadmap

Lean provides a framework to improve the flow of a process, it is therefore important to create a plan or roadmap describing the improved flow, highlighting changes, and areas for improvement.

7. 5 Benefits of Process Mapping

The path for your improvement journey consists of the work processes your organization uses to create and transport goods and services to its customers, the map you use for your improvement journey must focus on customer value.

6. 5 Reasons 5S is a Good Place to Start Your Lean Journey

Embarking on your Lean journey by implementing 5S is beneficial for several reasons.

5. Seven Best Poka-Yoke Devices

Mistake Proofing is about adding controls to prevent defects, reduce their severity, and detect them if they can occur.

4. Reprise: The Seven Basic Quality Tools

The Seven Basic Tools of Quality is a designation given to a fixed set of graphical techniques identified as being most helpful in troubleshooting issues related to quality.

3. Leader Standard Work is a Management System For Sustaining Gains

Leader Standard Work is the system that provides a structure and routine for leaders and drives process definition and daily accountability.

2. Top 10+ Lean Manufacturing Books

Luckily, there is no shortage of literature on Lean Manufacturing over the last several decades, but there 10 books I recommend on learning Lean.

1. 5 Ways to Improve Employee Engagement

Empowering employees is the ongoing process of providing the tools, training, resources; encouragement and motivation your workers need to perform at the optimum level.

See you soon!

Vacation Break But Enjoy

Blog Vacation Till August 28th! 

Here is a collection of the Top 10 posts for 2015 by views:

1.     5 Tips for Implementing 5S

The 5S system is a good starting point for all improvement efforts aiming to drive out waste from the manufacturing process, and ultimately improve a company’s bottom line by improving products and services, and lowering costs.

2.     You Can’t Inspect in Quality

Quality is about prevention—you cannot "inspect" quality into a product. It has to happen before the inspection process.

3.     Success Starts with Effective Problem Solving

Success in your business and for that of your company is a matter of effective problem solving. If you do one thing well this is paramount.

4.     Coaching Is Critical to Develop a Lean Thinking Mentality

Coaching is one of the premier skills of a good Lean leader, but one that is often overlooked. A leader whose goal is to help employees fulfill potential must be an exemplary coach.

5.     6 Ways to Motivate Change

Anyone who has worked in or led an organization's transformation understands change is not easy. People commonly resist change for a variety of reasons. Tips on reducing resistance to change.

6.     Be A Leader Not A Boss

While a leader can be a boss, not every boss is a leader. The distinction between being a boss and being a leader may seem small, but it means the world to the people who work for you.

7.     Problem Solving Starts With Defining The Problem

A well-stated problem statement speeds a robust corrective action process. It helps identify potential root causes and eliminate bias and noise.

8.     How Do We Promote STEM Careers?

Companies can leverage their resources, including their employees’ time or donated funds and products, to support STEM initiatives in a variety of ways.

9.     The Language of Lean is Visual

A Visual Factory provides a clear and common understanding of goals and measures of the business. With this information employees are able to align their actions and decisions with the overall strategic direction of the company.

10.  The Gemba is our Lean Classroom

Management must go to the Gemba to practice Lean management. Gemba walking teaches us to see in new ways what we have failed to see before. There you can identify problems, non-value added activities, or wastes through a deliberate observation of a particular area or process.

See you soon!

On Vacation Till August 28th, Still

Blog Vacation Till August 28th! 

1. What Do We Mean By True North? - In a nutshell, True North is a vision of the ideal condition both from the standpoint of the customer and the provider that is distinguished at once by its simplicity and also by the challenge it presents to status quo thinking. 

2. What Lean is Not - 10 Things That Are Not Lean - Despite Lean Thinking being around for three decades there are still surprising many misconceptions about Lean. 

3. Lean and Inventory: Misunderstood -Lean doesn’t mean ZERO inventory. It means the right inventory at the right time at the right quantities and in the right place. 

 4. 8 Principles of Quality Management - These principles have been identified to facilitate the achievement of quality objectives and form the foundation for effective quality management.

5. Keep Calm and Let the Quality Manager Handle It - Quality is not something we can rely on a single person or group to perform. Quality is everyone’s job. 

6. Five Simple Ways to Make Your VSM A Valuable Improvement Tool - Value stream mapping is a tremendously valuable tool for improving a process.These tips will help you develop accurate value stream maps that you can use to drive continuous improvement.

7. ASQ: Improve Your Strategy Through Hoshin Kanri - Hoshin kanri is not a strategic planning tool, it is an execution tool. It is a system to deploy an existing strategic plan throughout the organization. In other words, hoshin management is an idea handler, not an idea generator.

8. Ten Lean Lessons That Building Legos Has Taught Me - Time has taught me that you can learn valuable lessons from almost any experience. Legos are more than building blocks, they teach essential leadership skills. 

9. The 3 A’s of Respect for People - There are 3 essential elements of Respect for People that start with “A” which managers need for a sustainable Lean culture: Alignment, Autonomy, and Accountability.

10. Overcoming Employee Resistance to Change Is All About The 4 C's - Change doesn't just happen. It needs to be driven with purpose and intent. Change management requires planning for acceptance. Here are four more factors—the four C’s—to promoting acceptance of change: Caring, Control, Choice, Competence.
See you soon!

On Vacation But Enjoy

Blog Vacation Till August 28th!

Here is a collection of the Top 10 posts for 2013 by views:

10. The 20 Second Rule of “Lean” Change  - posted January 22, describes the idea of frequent small improvements over large projects.

9. 10 More Ways to Show Respect for People - posted April 3, highlights 10 ways you can show respect for people.

8. Management by the Numbers Makes You Blind, Go Beyond the Numbers  - posted March 4, describes the pitfalls of managing the numbers despite the people.

7. Lean Quote: Simple Rules for Holding Lean Meetings  - posted Jan 4, is a Lean Quote that presents 9 rules for holding effective meetings.

6. Poka Yoke: Mistake Proofing to Reduce Errors - posted August 21, explains the basics of mistake proofing as a means to reduce errors.

5. 10 Things Your Lean Leader Can Do Now To Make a Difference Culturally - posted July 24, describes 10 things your Lean leader can do right now to change the culture.

4. No Time for Improvement Means No Improvement - posted July 9, illustrates the importance of making time for improvement.

3. The Right Order of MUDA, MURA and MURI - posted June 17, explains the correct way to attack the 3Ms consider the impact each other.

2. Top 10 Reason Why Lean Transformation Fails  - posted May 6, details 10 common reasons why Lean transformation fails.

1. The 8 Common Wastes in an Office That Cause Downtime – posted February 12, describes the 8 common Lean wastes from an office environment perspective.

See you soon!