The question I am asked most often by business owners and students is “how can Lean Six Sigma improve business?” My answer is very simple and always the same–find the constraints… find the money. What is keeping product from reaching the customer faster? These are the constraints–find them–remove them–and watch profits soar. It sounds easy, […]
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What Is Operational Excellence?
Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence. – Vince Lombardi In “The Discipline of Market Leaders – Choose your Customers, Narrow your Focus, Dominate your Market,” Michael Treacy and Fred Wiersema describe three distinct value propositions or disciplines an organization can choose to compete in their market or industry–Operational […]
Make Change That Lasts
Change is the only constant. – Heraclictus, Greek Philosopher Change is the only constant in the work environment Whether you are shifting office to another location, adopting a new practice or process, implementing an IT system, or re-engineering the business processes for an organization, change happens to everyone all the time. However, many change initiatives have been short-lived as […]
Training Within Industry (TWI) – The Foundation of Standardized Work & Continuous Improvement
In September 1990, my colleague and I participated in a technical training program for instructors held at the Panasonic Overseas Training Center and the Production Engineering College in Osaka, Japan for a period of two months. Waiting for the Shinkansen bound for Osaka During that time, we were newly hired technical training instructors at the […]
Why Lean Initiatives Fail in a Company (Part 2)
Note from the Editor: This is the second of a series of articles written by Charles Intrieri related to Lean Initiatives. The previous article can be found here and we suggest you read it first, if you haven’t already. You can read his other articles here. * * * * If you recall, from the first article on Lean, the […]
The Price Sensitivity of Consumers to Ethical Supply Chains
Many companies balk at the idea of implementing ethical supply chain management (SCM), as they only think of increased operating costs. Despite how much executing ethical SCM may affect the bottom line, companies should not immediately reject the idea without doing some research. For example, a recent survey by Software Advice, a supply chain management […]
Why Lean Initiatives Fail in a Company
Note from the Editor: This is the first of a series of articles written by Charles Intrieri related to Lean Initiatives. In the next article, Charles will review Kaizen, Kanban, and Lean Six Sigma, along with the benefits of implementing a Lean culture. You can read his other articles here. * * * * Lean initiatives are thought of as the use […]
Lean Inventory Management: Using Lean Initiatives to Manage Inventory
More firms are implementing lean inventory management techniques to reduce costs, improve flexibility and have more time to focus on their customers. Lean supply chain and inventory management enable Small Medium Businesses (SMB) to improve efficiency and increase profits. As firms look to reduce waste, increase turns and be more flexible with their inventory, management […]
Supply Chain Management: Building Process Efficiency with Your Supplier
In order to achieve success with your outsourced manufactured goods, there must be cohesiveness between the manufacturer, Supplier, and the product developer, Customer. This would require a recognized leader with an ability to understand the challenges representing both entities. In an ideal setting, the Project Manager (PM) would have a place at the table with […]
Introduction to Strategy Development and Strategy Execution
A successful business requires both a well developed strategy and the ability to execute on that strategy. Strategy without execution is merely theory. Many companies develop robust strategies, but fail at operationalizing their strategies into implementable steps. In this article, we will provide overviews for 12 business frameworks related to various aspects of Strategy Development […]
“I’m Sure It Was Here Yesterday!” – Problems with Inventory Counts
Maybe it was the latest cycle count, the picking errors report, the reorganization of the warehouse, or the procurement staff that brought it to your attention. But you’ve got less of what you thought you had and more of what you didn’t think you had. Drives the purchasing people crazy. The first thing you do? […]
