Mass Production & Lean: What’s the difference?
Mass production is not considered to be a Lean production method. At the height of its innovation however, it did effectively lower the unit cost of many goods and improved the efficiency of facilities. In the spirit of Lean and continuous improvement, it’s important to keep finding ways to improve the organization and over time,…
Jesse Allred | June 17, 2019 | Continuous Improvement, Kaizen, Kanban, Lean Manufacturing | Continuous Improvement, Kaizen, Kanban, Lean Manufacturing | 3 min read
Foundational Concepts of Lean
Lean manufacturing utilizes a number of strategies and tools to improve the business by boosting productivity and eliminating waste. The following are just a handful of the most common Lean tools, many have been adopted from manufacturing in Japan and the Toyota Production System . 5S (The Visual Workplace) 5S is a system of creating…
Jesse Allred | June 7, 2019 | 5S, Continuous Improvement, Kaizen, Kanban, Lean, Lean Manufacturing | 5S, Continuous Improvement, Kaizen, Kanban, Lean, Lean Manufacturing | 3 min read
What is a Gemba Walk?
Gemba walks are an important concept in your Lean toolbox. Managers and business leaders go on (“go and see”) walks to observe firsthand how the production line is operating. The Objective of a Gemba Walk In businesses, managers often look to company leaders for direction. The value created by a business, though, exists out on…
Jesse Allred | February 11, 2019 | Gemba, Lean, Lean Manufacturing | 5S, Facility Efficiency, Gemba, Kaizen, Lean Manufacturing | 3 min read
The Tools of Kaizen
Kaizen is the methodology and philosophy of making small continuous improvements in business. It can be both an ongoing daily commitment or be implemented in a series of short-term, rapid improvement events. This way of thinking involves employers from all levels and works to make small incremental changes in nearly every aspect of the workplace.…
Jesse Allred | September 27, 2018 | Kaizen | Continuous Improvement, Facility Efficiency, Kaizen, Lean Manufacturing | 3 min read
The Top 5 Ways To Implement & Improve Lean Efforts in the Workplace
Since you’re reading this, you probably have some notion, however small, as to what lean strategies are, but you might be struggling with implementing them into your workplace for the first time. For others, you might be seeking a lean-based solution to a specific problem you’re noticing in your place of work. Whatever your case,…
Tony Ferraro | April 23, 2014 | Continuous Improvement | Continuous Improvement, Facility Efficiency, Gemba, Kaizen, Lean Manufacturing | 5 min read
How do you make a Factory Culture Embrace Lean?
Several years ago, I was working as a project manager for a local manufacturing company. The owner asked me how much I knew about lean, and I told them I had about three years experience working on a lean transformation in upstate New York in which we had to completely change the factory climate from…
Tony Ferraro | November 17, 2013 | Lean | Continuous Improvement, Facility Efficiency, Kaizen, Lean Manufacturing | 2 min read
OSHA and Continuous Improvement
Any organization doing business in the United States should be familiar with the Occupational Safety & Health Administration, or OSHA. They are a branch of the US Department of Labor and are tasked with helping to ensure all working environments are safe and healthy for those working in them. They were established in 1970, and have…
Tony Ferraro | October 25, 2013 | Continuous Improvement | Continuous Improvement, Kaizen, OSHA, Regulations & Compliance | 2 min read
Changeover – Creating Flow and Eliminating Waste
For those in the manufacturing industry, changeover is a term which is used when talking about converting a particular machine, or a line from creating one product to another. The most well known example of this would be in the automotive industry where it is necessary to do a changeover when updating to a new…
Tony Ferraro | October 7, 2013 | Lean Manufacturing | Continuous Improvement, Facility Efficiency, Kaizen, Lean Manufacturing | 2 min read
Healthcare and Workplace Injuries
When most people think of hospitals and doctors’ offices, they think of a place to go to get better from an illness or injury. When employees go there, however, they might think of it as a dangerous place where they might actually sustain a serious injury. A recent study found that healthcare workers are more…
Tony Ferraro | August 6, 2013 | Healthcare, Kaizen, Safety | Continuous Improvement, Healthcare, Kaizen, Workplace Safety | 3 min read
Importance of Catchball
The catchball is an important part of any planning process, but it is something that is all too often just glossed over. When done properly the catchball encourages leadership and team members to dialogue about a particular topic in an efficient and productive manner. It can help to break down the walls which are all…
Tony Ferraro | July 22, 2013 | Kaizen, Lean | Continuous Improvement, Facility Efficiency, Kaizen, Lean Manufacturing | 2 min read
Lean and Kaizen are not meant to eliminate People
One of the most persistent problems companies experience when attempting to implement lean and/or Kaizen practices, is that people are always worried that it will lead to the elimination of jobs. Since the beginning of these methodologies, employees have feared that the increased efficiencies and other changes that take place will mean that there is…
Tony Ferraro | July 8, 2013 | Kaizen, Lean Manufacturing | Continuous Improvement, Facility Efficiency, Kaizen, Lean Manufacturing | 2 min read
Kaizen Continuous Improvement
What is Kaizen? Many people mistakenly think that Kaizen is only used for short term improvement events and other onetime improvement hits. The fact is, however, Kaizen should be used to help build a culture of continuous improvement in a facility. This will include scheduled events but it should continue on much longer than that. The following…
Tony Ferraro | June 27, 2013 | Continuous Improvement, Kaizen | Continuous Improvement, Facility Efficiency, Kaizen, Lean Manufacturing | 2 min read
Kaizen
Kaizen is a Japanese word which means improvement or to change for the better, but it is also a philosophy or set of practices which many businesses use to help them focus on continuous improvement of their processes in manufacturing. While it has been applied in many industries including health care, banking, engineering and government,…
Tony Ferraro | March 2, 2013 | Continuous Improvement, Kaizen, Lean, Lean Manufacturing | Continuous Improvement, Facility Efficiency, Kaizen, Lean Manufacturing | 2 min read
