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 […]
Control Charts
Lake Michigan Water Levels
Record high Lake Michigan water levels and dune erosion have been big concerns along the “north coast” in recent years. As beaches disappeared under the rising water, homes near the shoreline were threatened. Property owners resorted to armoring the coastline with huge boulders to dissipate wave energy. In many cases, cranes on barges were required […]
Great Mementos
Shelter in place is providing time for many projects that would not get done otherwise. While decluttering, I found some great mementos. Not just souvenirs, mementos tell a story. Here are four COVID-19 decluttering favorites: During the late 80’s, Ford (and the rest of the global auto industry) was desperately trying to catch the Japanese […]
Source Inspection for Zero Defects
As the highest form of error proofing, source inspection for zero defects is such a powerful concept that it merits a close look. Source inspection is 100% inspection, not statistical sampling, for causal factors that lead to defects. Defects are prevented through immediate action to remove causal factors. While this may sound complicated, it is […]
Control Charts
To provide a rational means to categorize (common cause vs special cause) and measure variation, Walter A. Shewhart invented control charts circa 1925 – 1931. W. Edwards Deming took these basic statistical concepts and tools with him to Japan after World War II and planted the seeds for the quality revolution. The rest is history. […]