This poorly made cartoon does a nice job with a cautionary tale about problem solving.

At this factory, the manager became a Saw-Muri warrior.  He was now sensitized to a common but invisible productivity and morale killer.  Too often however, managers don't see Muri.  They put a person in a stressful job, and he will occasionally have to rest.  This is sometimes referred to by those managers who can't see Muri as "dogging it."  

There are some great ideas in here. I love labeling the light switches, because we went a couple of days last week where the lights in the front office were off since no one knew where the swtch was. Color coding the printer / printer cartridge is brilliant. Instruction sheets for office equipment...

"I long to accomplish great and noble tasks, but it is my chief duty to accomplish humble tasks as though they were great and noble. The world is moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker." - Helen Keller

Great suggestion...

Who could facilitate a Lego game for us?  I would love to participate.

There is no reason that we can't try.

  You may have to take the "back-door" approach and look for the opposite of waste: work. Work is the value-added activity in the operation.  It is everything that waste is not.  So when you can't see the waste, find the work.

How do Lean organizations develop their employees if Lean considers expenditure of resources other than for creation of value to be wasteful? First, a true lean organization isn't obsessed with waste. If anything, they are obsessed with value.  Waste is anything more than the absolutely minimum required to add value to a product or service; waste is not just anything that doesn't create value. I can't imagine much value can be delivered without the right skills and capabilities in the organization. Therefore, I don't think there is any conflict between developing employees and waste elimination. Second, a lean organization thinks about the total system, and thinks long term. There is a constant pursuit of the knowledge between cause and effect. All of that means that there is a strong understanding of the performance impact (effect) of more talented and skilled people (cause). Third, people think too narrowly about how they develop their people that they think it all must cost dollars, because it is all about training. I'm not suggesting that you should stop training; I've rarely seen an organization that is over-trained. What I'm suggesting is that the increase in developing people come from coaching and experimentation. These two sources of development are very powerful when done consistently and for the long-term.

no matter if you choose to seek certification or not… I encourage you to do something. In the end I really believe that if you constantly seek knowledge with a humble heart while working to help others… you will not go wrong.

"Don't be afraid to give up the good for the great." - John D. Rockefeller An essential element in Lean thinking is Kaizen.  Kaizen is the Japanese word for continuous improvement or change for the better.  As no process can ever be declared perfect, there is always room for improvement.  Kaizen involves building on gains by continuing experimentation and innovation. The cycle of kaizen activity can be defined as: Standardize process Measure the standardized process Analyze measurements against requirements Innovate to meet requirements and increase productivity Standardize the new, improved process Continue cycle infinitely Kaizen involves every employee - from upper management to operators. Everyone is encouraged to come up with small improvement suggestions on a regular basis. This is not a once a month or once a year activity. It is continuous. Kaizen is based on making little changes on a regular basis: always improving productivity, safety and effectiveness while reducing waste.  The western philosophy is often summarized as, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." However, the Kaizen philosophy is to "do it better, make it better, improve it even if it isn't broken, because if we don't, we can't compete with those who do."

Another great Fastcap video!

Cool video!

Zero defects is a philosophy of Lean. It simply means that every process should be designed so that it is impossible to produce poor quality. The underlying premise, which is true in nearly every case, is that the cost of preventing problems is lower than the cost of fixing them.

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As you all know, a horizontal surface can become a potential area for items to accumulate. When it comes to workbenches, it seems that they have far too many things on them and are much bigger than the need to be.

How do you start a Gemba Walk in your plant? It may seem overwhelming but it doesn't need to be.  Don't walk into the workplace looking for everything.  If you do, you will accomplish nothing while causing confusion. This simple list is a good place to start.  Use this list to build your own Gemba Walk theme.

Our process is different Why people believe this: Most people have a limited view of other processes, and don't see the similarities. Many cultures also value independence, so people are biased towards seeing uniqueness in their processes. The truth: There is a great deal of overlap in processes, and most are not as unique as people think they are. As a Lean consultant, I see new processes and methods with every project, but the majority of the tasks people do are things I've seen before. How to overcome this: Have a couple of go-to people to talk to the group that is experiencing change. They should be people who have recently used Lean to improve their process. Teams believe each other far more than they believe their bosses.

Agreed Paul.

Where could we try this? It sounds like a great technique.

Stop rewarding wrong behaviors. We love a hero. On the shop floor, that is the person who miraculously pulls a part from a secret stash, or bypasses a process to 'make things happen.' As long as leaders reward that sort of heroism, there will be little focus on fixing processes.