I read with interest a recent WSJ article “How to Fix Boeing: A Repair Manual.” We had similar invisible factory issues at Ford 30+ years ago. Boeing has (correctly) identified “traveled work” as a bad practice. In automotive, we called it “first-run” but it was the same problem. Not completing work in station snowballs […]
Continuous Improvement
Driving a Race Car as a Senior Citizen
Driving a race car as a senior citizen is not so much about winning races but more about battling Father Time. How to turn back the clock? Vision, fitness, hydration, nutrition, driving style, and car set up. Vision Corrected, my vision was fine on an eye chart but motorsports demand much more than reading small […]
PDCA and OODA
I have been using PDCA as my go-to problem solving and continuous improvement model for 30+ years. Recently, I happened across another great model: OODA. PDCA and OODA are a flexible and powerful combination. Plan-Do-Check-Act is attributed to Deming and Shewhart and is fundamental in old-school statistical process control. It is simple, easy, and effective. […]
A Plan for Every Part
A Plan for Every Part drives waste out of inventory and warehousing operations. It is the foundation for the continuous improvement of your procurement and material handling activities. Here’s how to get started: A Plan for Every Part is exactly as named: a compilation of facts and figures about all of your part numbers. While […]
Business Process Mapping
Business process mapping answers the who, where, when, and how questions about what actually happens inside your company. They can range from relatively narrow questions (how are credit applications approved?) to more comprehensive questions (how is a customer enquiry turned into a factory work order?) While a business process can be complicated, business process mapping […]