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Category Archives: bruce hamilton

Push The Cart

There’s a certain irony for me in the attention given recently to the application of robots on the shop floor. On a couple occasions in the past..
This entry was posted in old lean dude, lean manufacturing, continuous improvement, GBMP, kaizen, bruce hamilton on February 28 , 2023.

Leader Standard Waste: Part One

Three years ago I wrote a post entitled “The Emperor’s New Huddle Boards,” in which I expressed concern about the trappings of improvement without..
This entry was posted in old lean dude, kanban, six sigma, Toast Kaizen, David Mann, kaizen, standard work, toyota kata, bruce hamilton, toyota production system, leader standard work, standardized work on May 01 , 2018.

Who Cares for the Care Givers?

Last month I joined Eric Buhrens, CEO at Lean Enterprise Institute (LEI) to host a leadership team from the Tel Aviv’s Sourasky Medical Center. They..
This entry was posted in old lean dude, lean manufacturing, lean thinking, GBMP, Toast Kaizen, lean enterprise institute, kaizen, 7 wastes, bruce hamilton, lean in healthcare, toyota production system on April 13 , 2018.

Back To The Future

Here is an article I wrote ten years ago, recently resurrected from the lost letter file. I can’t remember why I wrote it or for whom. Originally..
This entry was posted in old lean dude, lean manufacturing, continuous improvement, GBMP, Toast Kaizen, TPS. oldleandude, kaizen, bruce hamilton, toyota production system on December 22 , 2016.

Ten Posts for Ten Shingo Principles

Hurrah! Today is the first day of Spring, if a little snowy, in the Boston area. And the 28th Annual Shingo Prize Conference is fast approaching in..
This entry was posted in old lean dude, lean manufacturing, GBMP, Toast Kaizen, Lean Principles, Shingo Institute, kaizen, shingo prize, bruce hamilton, toyota production system, Guiding Principles on March 21 , 2016.

Ludicrous Speed

Mel Brooks fans will remember Spaceballs, his jocular jibe at the Star Wars epic. In pursuit of a rebel ship, evil Lord Dark Helmet (Rick Moranis)..
This entry was posted in old lean dude, kata, lean manufacturing, kanban, continuous improvement, GBMP, TPM, bruce hamilton, lean in healthcare, toyota production system on February 08 , 2016.

Putting The Pieces Together

Summer’s here, and that means a family vacation to the beach, the boardwalk and the Hamilton’s favorite Pizza place. We all agree that Manco’s pizza..
This entry was posted in lean, old lean dude, continuous improvement, Toast Kaizen, improvement kata, Pizza, northeast lean conference, kaizen, bruce hamilton, toyota production system, Lean Culture on July 24 , 2015.

P-D Ratios

The last few weeks have been all things Shingo for me including a presentation at the Shingo Institute’s International Conference three weeks ago in..
This entry was posted in old lean dude, TPS, lean manufacturing, GBMP, muda, northeast lean conference, TPM, bruce hamilton, lean maturity, lean in healthcare, MRP, shigeo shingo, culture of improvement on May 27 , 2015.

Unreasonability

Sometimes we receive unreasonable and confusing directions, and sometimes we give them. Check out this example.
This entry was posted in old lean dude, lean manufacturing, Toast Kaizen, Shingo Institute, continuous improvement resolutions, bruce hamilton, toyota production system, shigeo shingo on April 13 , 2015.

The Emperor’s New Huddle Boards

After a one-day observation at a local company, I participated in a wrap-up meeting with the General Manager and his team. “We’ve been at this for..
This entry was posted in old lean dude, lean manufacturing, continuous improvement, shingo prize, problem solving, bruce hamilton, A3, Huddle Boards on March 23 , 2015.

Musical Kata

I sang baritone and sometimes tenor in the St. John’s Lutheran Church choir according the key of the hymn were rehearsing and also depending upon who..
This entry was posted in old lean dude, kata, lean manufacturing, continuous improvement, improvement kata, toyota kata, mike rother, coaching kata, bruce hamilton, toyota production system, healthcare kata, operational excellence on February 17 , 2015.

A Holiday Miracle

Viewing Bill Murray’s “Scrooged” last week for the twenty-fifth time in as many years, I recalled a kind of holiday miracle I witnessed shortly after..
This entry was posted in old lean dude, lean manufacturing, lean thinking, GBMP, Toast Kaizen, Management Kaizen, lean training, Taiichi Ohno, bruce hamilton, ohno circle, gemba, employee engagement on December 31 , 2014.

Dead See Scrolls

I participated recently in the AME conference in Jacksonville, Florida; a terrific rally for manufacturing excellence with the tongue-twisting theme..
This entry was posted in old lean dude, lean manufacturing, GBMP, Taiichi Ohno, TEI, respect for people, bruce hamilton, People powered excellence, employee engagement, shigeo shingo, Total Employee Involvement, The Shingo Institute on November 26 , 2014.

NVLLIVS IN VERBA

There was a time when it was not fashionable for managers to associate with front line employees. Alluding to an old adage, I used to joke that you..
This entry was posted in old lean dude, observation, administrative kaizen, manager standard work, lean in sales, pokayoke, bruce hamilton, gemba, lean in the office, Lean Culture on October 24 , 2014.

3P - Putting People Phirst

With our 10th Annual Northeast Conference just eight days away, I’ve taken a little poetic license with the conference theme, Putting People First,..
This entry was posted in old lean dude, lean thinking, GBMP, Toast Kaizen, northeast lean conference, kaizen, bruce hamilton, 3P, lean in healthcare, gemba, customer first, toyota production system on September 22 , 2014.

Invisibility

A chance reading recently provided a thought from Henry Thoreau that I think is worth sharing. Thoreau said:
This entry was posted in old lean dude, lean manufacturing, process improvement, northeast lean conference, kaizen, respect for people, bruce hamilton, idea systems on August 14 , 2014.

How We Learn

While I am an unabashed proponent of learning by doing, I have a list of books that have over the years been essential to me as a framework for..
This entry was posted in lean, old lean dude, continuous improvement, policy deployment, favorable environment, culture, kaizen, hoshin kanri, managerial engineering, bruce hamilton, ryuji fukuda, countermeasures, CEDAC, reliable methods on August 08 , 2014.

Frankenstein Equivalents

I was speaking with a friend about a recent downsizing at his church. After nine years, a popular priest had been reassigned to another parish. In an..
This entry was posted in old lean dude, lean thinking, full time equivalents, Frankenstein, northeast lean conference, bruce hamilton, lean in healthcare, employee engagement, FTEs, customer first thinking on July 22 , 2014.

Lesser Gods

I learned recently of the passing earlier this year of person I worked with twenty years ago at my last job in manufacturing. Manny S. was a ‘lesser..
This entry was posted in old lean dude, lean manufacturing, Silver Toaster Award, bruce hamilton, lean in healthcare, employee engagement, sensei, Northeast L.E.A.N. Conference on July 07 , 2014.

Addicted to Lean

One of my early lessons in leading change came at the age of 19, while working in in a program known as VISTA, Volunteers in Service to America. The..
This entry was posted in old lean dude, lean manufacturing, continuous improvement, GBMP, Toast Kaizen, northeast lean conference, change agent, change management, addicted to lean, bruce hamilton on June 16 , 2014.

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