From the category archives:

process measures

Unappetizing Spaghetti Diagrams

by Pete Abilla August 9, 2009
This entry is part 18 of 28 in the series Lean and Six Sigma

A Spaghetti Diagram is a simple visual tool to demonstrate the flow of material, flow of information, and flow of money in a process. The word “spaghetti” is descriptive because it describes flow that is not easily understood, can’t easily be followed, or if the flow is literally all over the place.  Indeed, a Spaghetti [...]

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Process Bloat, a Hidden Indigestion (Process Cycle Efficiency)

by Pete Abilla April 21, 2009
This entry is part 21 of 28 in the series Lean and Six Sigma

The Hidden Factory is a term that refers to activities in an operation that were not designed into it, but grew over time as workarounds for the current process.  Most organizations have some form of a Hidden Factory and being able to “see” these hidden factories in an organization requires learning to see what waste [...]

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Maintain Forward Tension

by Pete Abilla July 20, 2008

One principle in Wing Chun is the maintaining of forward tension.  To explain, I’ll draw the distinction between Tension and Energy and show how this principle in Wing Chun can be applied to Change Management. Tension is a type of Energy A Wing Chun maxim goes as follows: soft and relaxed strength will put your [...]

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Fast Food Congestion

by Pete Abilla July 9, 2008

Every system has constraints — sometimes several — minor bottlenecks and major bottlenecks.  What makes managing constraints even more challenging is that bottlenecks move: up-and-down the process paths. I saw this phenomenon recently during a visit to a fast food restaurant, which I discuss in this post — but, my application of the Theory of [...]

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Necessary but Insufficient

by Pete Abilla June 7, 2008

Motorola (MOT), the inventor of Six Sigma, is in big trouble. Even though it invented Six Sigma, this is a clear example that shows how Lean or Six Sigma are not a cure-all for corporate woes, but that good leadership and a winning strategy are key in a competitive world — Lean or Six Sigma [...]

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After the “Place Order” Button

by Pete Abilla April 25, 2008

What happens after the customer clicks the “Place Order Button”?  For some customers, this is a large black hole.  But, wise companies understand that customers need to be informed and aware of the steps after the “Place Order Button” is clicked.  In fact, customers want to be involved in the end-to-end transaction.  In this article, [...]

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