Farmers use greenhouses to provide the perfect conditions for the growth of their plants. The conditions in a greenhouse are often set to ensure maximum benefit to plants. Compare that to planting the same plant in a cold and dark plot. The yield obtained from the two places would be very different. Thinking from that perspective, [...]
Many organizations complain about having difficulty maintaining standards on the shop floor. We often make improvement only to find the process regresses back to its previous state in a short period of time. A closer look at the audit process will often show the following types of symptoms: Standard work is posted, but no one is [...]
Lean thinking enables a business to enjoy progressive transformational growth. If you cannot think outside the norms, you will be setting up a glass ceiling over yourself. Whatever business you are in, you can aim for the skies by reimagining things. You could reimagine your target market, your operations, your products, and everything else about the [...]
Many proprietors and workers will assume that clients are satisfied with their products and services, just because nobody has ever complained. That mentality is detrimental to your career or business. Take yourself for instance. Rarely will you complain because the bus you normally use is a few minutes late, but you prefer if it was always [...]
“Learning is the human capital accelerant of the enterprise,” writes Michael E. Echols, Vice-President of strategic initiatives at Bellevue University, in the April 2016 issue of CLOmedia.com. According to Echols, a significant segment of the country’s corporate culture believes that human capital formation only includes the process of training or developing new employees. Echols contends that [...]
In a January 18, 2017 press release,[1] the Directors of the Small Business Excellence Award Program announced the selection of the Lean Learning Center for the 2016 Troy Small Business Excellence Award in the Adult Education classification. The Award Program honors small businesses that demonstrate excellent marketing success, community involvement, and innovative business practices in the [...]
There’s no question that key performance indicators (KPIs) are needed to help drive operational improvements. KPIs are absolutely essential for organizations to present performance information for all levels of the organization. The key to success is selecting KPIs that will deliver long-term value to the organization. It’s problematic that the terms KPI and metric are used interchangeably within [...]
In part one of this series, I focused on hard lessons learned by Kodak, who had the technology and capability for the first digital camera back in 1975, but was beat to the digital market by their competition because they became complacent with their monopoly in the 35mm camera market. It certainly was a sad lesson, [...]
At the root of lean principles is the ability to define and provide the exact needs of the customer. Lean Learning Center offers professional guidance for businesses with a desire to better themselves. Lean principles are not just for new businesses trying to implement efficient processes, nor is it solely for failing businesses in need of [...]
Frontline managers see everyone in your company every day. If your frontline team spends more than 60 minutes of their day increasing value added from their team you are ahead of the average. Ask yourself: Of the salaried headcount, what percentage are frontline managers? How many associates are they connecting with daily? Of 600 minutes at [...]
