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Category Archives: GBMP

Labor Wastage Day

I’ll admit it. After five decades watching U.S. companies turning to simplistic accounting tricks to remain profitable, I’m discouraged. I was a kid..
This entry was posted in GBMP, Management Kaizen, Toyota Production System. Lean manufacturing, 7 wastes, Everybody Everyday, Lean Culture on September 01 , 2023.

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.

Year End Muda

So much of the technical aspect of Lean relates to time: cycle time, lead-time, takt time, set-up time, and, of course, time associated with waste...
This entry was posted in old lean dude, lean manufacturing, continuous improvement, GBMP, kaizen on December 30 , 2022.

Everyday Collaboration

With GBMP’s 18th Annual Northeast Lean Conference on the horizon, I’m reflecting on our theme, “Amplifying Lean – The Collaboration Effect.” The term..
This entry was posted in old lean dude, lean manufacturing, continuous improvement, GBMP, kaizen on August 12 , 2022.

Uncommon Sense

“Never let a good crisis go to waste.” This advice, attributed to Nicolo Machiavelli, and later cited by Winston Churchill at the conclusion of WWII,..
This entry was posted in old lean dude, lean manufacturing, continuous improvement, GBMP, kaizen on August 05 , 2022.

Lean Lessons from COVID

You may recognize the quote from Friedrich Nietzsche – or more recently from Kelly Clarkson 🙂 “What doesn’t kill you makes your stronger.” I’ve..
This entry was posted in old lean dude, lean manufacturing, continuous improvement, GBMP, kaizen on December 30 , 2021.

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.

Why "Everybody, Everyday"?

Plus a big "congratulations" to MassMutual Financial Group of Springfield MA. Allow me to explain...
This entry was posted in old lean dude, lean manufacturing, kanban, six sigma, continuous improvement, GBMP, Shingo Institute, kaizen, shingo prize on April 05 , 2018.

Happy Hollow Lean

Today is a favorite holiday for me, full of make-believe supernatural and candy, and unencumbered for the most part by significance. For this..
This entry was posted in old lean dude, lean manufacturing, six sigma, continuous improvement, GBMP, Toast Kaizen, kaizen, toyota production system, operational excellence on October 31 , 2017.

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.

How to Rework a Charlie Brown Tree

Last weekend, as I forked over $70 for a “live” Christmas tree, I had a flashback to a very different experience when I was still a kid. My family..
This entry was posted in old lean dude, lean manufacturing, GBMP, creativity, toyota production system on December 21 , 2016.

Summer Memory

I was lucky that the first boss I ever had (at age 13) had much to teach at a point when I had much to learn. Chris M. was a brilliant but illiterate..
This entry was posted in old lean dude, lean manufacturing, GBMP, Toast Kaizen, kaizen, lean conference, toyota production system on September 16 , 2016.

Peripheral Discoveries

The following post is inspired by The Teachings of Don Juan, an anthropological novel from the 1960’s written by Carlos Castaneda chronicling his..
This entry was posted in old lean dude, lean manufacturing, GBMP, kaizen, toyota production system, shigeo shingo, value stream mapping on August 16 , 2016.

Profitless Part Proliferation

I wrote a post a little more than five years ago about Variety Reduction Program (VRP), an amazing but little known product design optimization tool...
This entry was posted in old lean dude, TPS, lean manufacturing, GBMP, Toast Kaizen, kaizen, hoshin kanri, true north, poka-yoke, toyota production system, inventory, shigeo shingo, value stream mapping on June 27 , 2016.

Eye of the Beholder

Many moons ago when I was just getting started on my lean journey, I visited a large automotive supplier to benchmark pull systems. My own factory..
This entry was posted in old lean dude, TPS, lean manufacturing, kanban, GBMP, Toast Kaizen, kaizen, TPM, 5S, true north, poka-yoke, toyota production system, shigeo shingo, value stream mapping on May 20 , 2016.

Indefinite Postponement

Today’s post is inspired by the politically charged gobbledygook we call presidential primaries. This battle of principles turned battle of wills..
This entry was posted in old lean dude, lean manufacturing, GBMP, Toast Kaizen, kaizen, hoshin kanri, true north, toyota production system, shigeo shingo, value stream mapping on April 20 , 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.

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