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: TPS
What Does L.E.A.N. Mean?
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As we approach the 19th year of our annual Northeast L.E.A.N. Conference (less than a month away!), I’d like to emphasize the acronym L.E.A.N...
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TPS,
Toyota Production System. Lean manufacturing,
Lean Daily Management,
Lean Management,
7 wastes. Toyota Production System,
Lean Culture
on
September 11 , 2023.
Turning Downtime into Learning Time
Tools or Culture?
With our annual Northeast LEAN Conference just a few days away, I want to relate a personal story about the theme of this year’s conference,
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old lean dude,
TPS,
lean manufacturing,
kanban,
continuous improvement,
kaizen,
7 wastes,
Changeover,
SMED,
toyota production system,
shigeo shingo,
enterprise excellence
on
September 14 , 2017.
The Final Frontier
On May 5, 1961, Alan Shepard became the first US astronaut to journey to the “final frontier.” Atop a Mercury rocket, Shepard launched into a..
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old lean dude,
TPS,
lean manufacturing,
six sigma,
continuous improvement,
shingo model,
lean thinking,
Shingo Institute,
lean in healthcare,
toyota production system,
Lean Culture
on
June 05 , 2017.
Lean Wizards
October was Lean conference month for me: First our own Northeast Lean Conference in Worcester (pronounced “Wustah”), then the international AME..
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lean,
old lean dude,
TPS,
six sigma,
continuous improvement,
lean thinking,
Toast Kaizen,
Toyota Production System. Lean manufacturing,
kaizen,
5S
on
October 31 , 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...
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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.
Traditional Lean?
Twice in the last month I’ve heard the phrase “Traditional Lean” used in public presentations. In neither case did the presenter explain the..
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old lean dude,
TPS,
lean manufacturing,
six sigma,
continuous improvement,
GM,
automation,
MRP,
toyota production system,
lean sigma,
ERP
on
May 31 , 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..
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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.
Lazy Lean Guy
In 1987, shortly after I became a manufacturing manager, the shop foreman at the time warned me about a young assembler: “Watch out for Michael, he’s..
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old lean dude,
TPS,
lean manufacturing,
continuous improvement,
Taiichi Ohno,
Non-stock production,
toyota production system,
better faster cheaper easier,
shigeo shingo
on
November 12 , 2015.
Up, Back and Around
Watching the US Women’s Team take the World Cup last week caused me to reminisce about my short-term coaching stint of a U12 soccer team. Before..
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old lean dude,
TPS,
lean manufacturing,
lean thinking,
Toast Kaizen,
kaizen,
practice,
true north,
lean in healthcare,
teamwork,
Toyota Product System,
gemba walk,
Lean Culture
on
July 13 , 2015.
Precisely Wrong
Last Thursday marked the fourth anniversary of the passing of someone who, while not typically credited as a “Lean” thinker, nevertheless had a..
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old lean dude,
TPS,
lean manufacturing,
Eli Goldratt,
Theory of Constraints,
productivity,
the goal,
toyota production system,
Standing on the Shoulders of Giants,
TOC,
effect-cause-effect,
Ford
on
June 15 , 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..
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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.
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..
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lean,
old lean dude,
TPS,
kaizen,
lean in healthcare,
gemba,
toyota production system
on
September 02 , 2014.
Permutations
For many years I worked for a manufacturer of pressure and temperature switches, a small company with a very big product selection. In our product..
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old lean dude,
TPS,
lean manufacturing,
kanban,
continuous improvement,
GBMP,
kaizen,
shingo prize,
bruce hamilton,
toyota production system,
1x1 processing
on
April 18 , 2014.
Nice Round Numbers
I was working recently with a company that is targeting inventory reduction as a top priority. I stressed that reducing the causes of inventory is a..
This entry was posted in
old lean dude,
TPS,
six sigma,
lean accounting. continuous improvement,
purchasing,
bruce hamilton,
safety stock,
inventory,
eoq
on
January 24 , 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..
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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.
Rowing II
Many managers ask me “How can I accelerate my company’s Lean transformation?” My answer is two fold: First get the direction right, and then get..
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lean,
old lean dude,
TPS,
northeast shingo prize conference,
fukuda,
TSSC,
true north
on
September 16 , 2013.
Is Lean the Dark Side of TPS?
Culture Schmulture
Some time ago, while giving a presentation entitled Organizational Obstacles to Lean, I displayed a slide with the title “It’s Not about Culture”. My..
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old lean dude,
TPS,
continuous improvement,
Management Kaizen,
kaizen,
bruce hamilton,
toyota production system,
Lean Management,
John Shook,
Lean Culture
on
June 21 , 2013.
What is Advanced Manufacturing?
I am looking for some help to answer this question. Seeking illumination, I recently attended a presentation offered through CCAT, a non-profit..
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old lean dude,
TPS,
lean manufacturing,
six sigma,
lean thinking,
GBMP,
Toast Kaizen,
muda,
process improvement,
kaizen,
lean government,
hoshin kanri,
lean development,
TPM,
SMED,
true north,
lean summit,
poka-yoke,
lean in healthcare,
optimization,
toyota production system,
inventory,
Northeast Shingo Prize,
made in america,
change over,
lean tools,
Muri,
shigeo shingo,
lean assessment,
standardized work,
set-up reduction,
value stream mapping,
mura,
searching
on
June 04 , 2012.