Old Lean Dude
A Blog About Understanding The Toyota Production System and Gaining Its Full Benefits, brought to you by "The Toast Guy"
Category Archives: lean
Turning Downtime into Learning Time
Leave a reply
About Time
Talking Turkey
Customer First Santa
Every December the man in the red suit delivers cheer and presents to millions of happy children around the world. It seems like magic, but a closer..
This entry was posted in
lean,
old lean dude,
lean manufacturing,
kanban,
six sigma,
kaizen,
toyota production system,
leansixsigma,
operational excellence
on
December 14 , 2018.
More Than Toast
It’s hard to believe that 2018 is the 20th anniversary for the Toast Kaizen video. After two decades, nearly one hundred and fifty thousand copies..
This entry was posted in
lean,
old lean dude,
lean manufacturing,
kanban,
six sigma,
lean thinking,
Toast Kaizen,
Shingo Institute,
kaizen,
shingo prize,
lean healthcare,
lean accounting,
toyota production system
on
September 26 , 2018.
Lean Society
“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” This quote from George Orwell’s political allegory, Animal Farm, occurred to..
This entry was posted in
lean,
old lean dude,
lean manufacturing,
six sigma,
continuous improvement,
shingo model,
Manager,
process,
toyota production system,
Knowledge Worker,
operational excellence
on
July 21 , 2017.
Lean Wizards
October was Lean conference month for me: First our own Northeast Lean Conference in Worcester (pronounced “Wustah”), then the international AME..
This entry was posted in
lean,
old lean dude,
TPS,
six sigma,
continuous improvement,
lean thinking,
Toast Kaizen,
Toyota Production System. Lean manufacturing,
kaizen,
5S
on
October 31 , 2016.
Mistake-Proofing Mistakes
There is a popular lore provided by Shigeo Shingo, that the original name for mistake-proofing (Poka-Yoke) was “fool-proofing” (Baka-Yoke). Shingo..
This entry was posted in
lean,
old lean dude,
six sigma,
continuous improvement,
standard work,
error-proofing,
pokayoke,
poka-yoke,
toyota production system,
shigeo shingo,
mistake proofing,
manufacturing
on
December 08 , 2015.
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.
Long-Term Sinking
This past week my organization, GBMP, moved from our home of twenty years at the Boston campus of the University of Massachusetts. The UMB College of..
This entry was posted in
lean,
old lean dude,
continuous improvement,
Shingo Institute,
Stability,
toyota production system,
foundation
on
June 30 , 2015.
Overproduction
Not wishing to rub salt in the wounds of my beleaguered Red Sox, their meteoric rise from last place in 2012 to first place in 2013 and subsequent..
This entry was posted in
lean,
old lean dude,
six sigma,
continuous improvement,
kaizen,
overproduction,
gemba,
toyota production system,
seven wastes,
shigeo shingo
on
September 25 , 2014.
I'm Against It!
A recent viewing of a Marx Brothers film caused me to reflect on one of the questions I’m frequently asked, “How do you deal with people that are..
This entry was posted in
lean,
old lean dude,
TPS,
kaizen,
lean in healthcare,
gemba,
toyota production system
on
September 02 , 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.
Be Careful What You Wish For - Part II
Four years ago I posted a funny story passed along to me by a Lean friend, that dealt with the consequences of crazy measures, and how lack of..
This entry was posted in
lean,
old lean dude,
continuous improvement,
GBMP,
Toast Kaizen,
factory,
Shingo Institute,
bruce hamilton,
gemba,
lean conference
on
May 27 , 2014.
Always Made in America
[Blogger’s Note: A couple of important events coming up in the next couple weeks give me an opportunity to showcase a great American manufacturer in..
This entry was posted in
lean,
old lean dude,
six sigma,
Shingo Conference,
TSSC,
Toyota Production,
continuous,
made in america,
operational excellence,
ohba,
Whirlpool
on
April 23 , 2014.
Lines
As any conference-goer can attest, the shortest distance between two points is not a straight line when that line is the lunch line. At Lean..
This entry was posted in
lean,
old lean dude,
six sigma,
continuous improvement,
kaizen,
TSSC,
bruce hamilton,
LEI,
inventory,
Jamie Bonini,
John Shook
on
March 17 , 2014.
Patience
In 1966, a freshman at a college in Maine attended a speech given by Floyd McKissick, newly appointed head of the Congress of Racial Equality, better..
This entry was posted in
lean,
old lean dude,
TPS,
continuous improvement,
Toast Kaizen,
Martin Luther King,
employees,
managers,
bruce hamilton,
patience,
toyota production system,
acceptance,
change,
Lean Culture
on
January 16 , 2014.
Clearing the Bar
When I was fifty years younger and fifty pounds lighter I tried my hand at pole vaulting, a peculiar track and field event that involves running at..
This entry was posted in
lean,
old lean dude,
lean manufacturing,
continuous improvement,
Toast Kaizen,
change management,
coaching,
management,
bruce hamilton,
lean in healthcare
on
December 02 , 2013.
Thankful for Inventory
I heard a tongue-in-cheek radio ad for a local tobacco shop yesterday extolling the secondary benefits derived from tobacco, namely the tobacco sales..
This entry was posted in
lean,
old lean dude,
downtime,
bruce hamilton,
equipment,
lot size,
safety stock,
inventory,
eoq
on
November 25 , 2013.
Innovation Centennial
This week marks the one hundredth anniversary of the introduction of a moving assembly line at Henry Ford’s Highland assembly plant, an innovation..
This entry was posted in
lean,
old lean dude,
Toyota,
Toyoda,
Ford
on
October 11 , 2013.