Lean Marketing, The Toyota Way

I recently finished reading The Toyota Way in Sales and Marketing and was astonished by two facts that were prevalent in their marketing strategies. One is that they repeatedly discussed a marketing strategy based on the philosophy of a “Customer for Life.” Now that was not earth shattering, nor was the second fact of improving Read More …

Be Productive, Be Visual

If you listen to this 2-part series you will never think the same way again about visual, Guaranteed! Gwendolyn D. Galsworth, Ph.D., is an educator, implementer, and a researcher with more than 25 years in the field of Workplace Visuality. Considered by many a leading visual expert, Dr. Galsworth is the author of a number Read More …

Bringing your Storyboard Alive!

Your storyboard should not be a a dry report but an active document that truly makes your project come alive! Storyboarding has become a popular way of transferring the details of a Six Sigma project to a graphical representation. Very much like your child’s fifth grade science fair project. The purpose of course it gives Read More …

Are there Bronze, Silver and Gold Belts ahead for Lean?

Lean Certification Program Sponsored by AME, SME and Shingo Prize My Sunday blog post is typically from a Business901 affiliate. This week I would like to use the opportunity to highlight a Lean certification program designed by three organizations – the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME), the Association for Manufacturing Excellence (AME), and The Shingo Read More …

Execute after the Kaizen Event

People hold Kaizen events to move a particular problem along quickly. As I had mentioned in a previous post, I had mentioned the importance of having a good project management scheme intact to accelerate the implementation and/or execution. However, what makes certain types of companies good at implementation or for that matter, even certain individuals? Read More …

A Kaizen Event is one of the most popular ways to rapidly improve a process and make the gains stick. Or is it?

If you are the facilitator of the Kaizen event you do your pre-event planning, you get the right people there, and the event goes off without a hitch. Good ideas were given, documented and ready to be enacted now it is time to close out the meeting and yes, pass the baton. But who do Read More …