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Articles on Lean Manufacturing, Lean Six Sigma, and The Toyota Production System

The Toyota Production System, or Lean Manufacturing as it has come to be called, is the production system developed by Toyota to identify and eliminate waste. It’s pillars are Continuous Improvement and Respect for People. It’s methodology includes both a worldview and tools to make work better through the systematic elimination of waste and a thorough approach to developing people.

Taiichi Ohno: Do Not Act Spoiled

by Pete Abilla on November 14, 2011

taiichi ohno, leadership, do not act spoiled

Continuing my review of Wakamatsu’s book on Taiichi Ohno, today we’ll explore his views on Urgency and how to prevent acting spoiled or how to prevent spoiling your workers. In other words, how to instill a continuous improvement mindset in your workforce. To read my reviews of Wakamatsu’s book on Taiichi Ohno, please visit the [...]

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No Skateboarding Sign: A Poka Yoke Approach

by Pete Abilla on November 9, 2011

We know that a Poka-Yoke approach is a much more effective approach to preventing mistakes and errors. But, sometimes, we see the approach of providing a “do not” sign only, which by itself, is not effective. But, coupled with a process or system that prevents the human from making mistakes or the error from being [...]

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Dry Cleaner Diaries: Lost and Found Defect Display Board

by Pete Abilla on November 8, 2011

laundromat for sale, defect display chart, defect display board

Let me say at the outset that all growing up, I had always equated a laundromat with the dry cleaners. But, apparently, they are different things. But, I’m just going to continue to pretend they are the same thing, mainly because it’s easier for me to remember and that my interaction with either a laundromat [...]

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Carnival Cruise Reviews: Toilet Poka Yoke

by Pete Abilla on October 27, 2011

My family and I recently returned from a vacation. We went on a cruise – our first one. And, our experience was great. I highly recommend going on a cruise – much more affordable than Disneyland, that’s for sure. There are other benefits too, but what I want to highlight today is an ingenious Poka-Yoke [...]

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Lean Deployments Should be Lean

by Pete Abilla on October 26, 2011

We are pleased to bring you this article by Troy Taylor, who was formerly with Toyota in the UK. His article discusses his experience as a lean consultant and his opinion on how to help companies and organizations in their lean journey. Enjoy this article and learn more about Troy Taylor after his article below. [...]

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Kanban and the Operations Management Triangle

by Pete Abilla on October 17, 2011

We are pleased to bring you this article by Evan Durant on Kanban and its application in a real-world environment within the constraints of Inventory, Capacity, and Information – the triumvirate he calls the Operations Management Triangle. He explains the transition from a traditiona MRP environment to a more consumption-based Kanban system and the challenges [...]

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Become a Guest Blogger on Shmula

by Pete Abilla on October 13, 2011

guest blogger on supply chain, warehousing, lean, six sigma

We’ve had several guest bloggers on Shmula in the past (see this series on the 7 Wastes). Today, I’m extending an invitation for those of you who wish to contribute and share your thoughts. Why Become a Guest Blogger Shmula.com is a highly visited site with over 80,000 monthly unique visitors and over 7,000 email [...]

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To Err is Human: ATM Machine Poka Yoke

by Pete Abilla on October 12, 2011

Most of us are familiar with ATM machines. If you deposit or withdraw money from a bank, rent from a Redbox DVD machine, or have bought from a soda machine, you’ve likely used an ATM like machine. This specific experience I had highlighted the subtle but important fact around design and how to design in [...]

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