From the category archives:

waste

Do Not Do 5S – Yet

by Pete Abilla August 12, 2010

I’ve never understood why most organizations start their Lean journey with 5S. Most consultants advocate this approach also. I take a different view. In an earlier post, Jamie Flinchbaugh argues that organizations shouldn’t begin their Lean journey with 5S for the following reasons: If your first step in Lean is one that involves mandates, it [...]

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Waste Hides in Plain Sight

by Pete Abilla July 10, 2010
This entry is part 9 of 10 in the series Seven (7) Wastes

In Lean Management, the phrase “learn to see” was not coined by accident. John Shook and company chose a great term to describe the transformation that happens when individuals and organizations learn the difference between value, waste, and they begin to see old things in new ways. Waste hides in plain site. Yet it hides [...]

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Child Adoption, Queueing, and Waste (Muda)

by Pete Abilla April 8, 2010
This entry is part 5 of 28 in the series queueing theory

We’ve adopted four beautiful kids; in addition to our biological kids, that makes for a big family.  Yeah, I know. Crazy.  But, we’re happy. Aside from the obscene amount of money we’ve spent on adopting four kids – none of which I regret – we’ve also spent a lot of time.  In fact, all of [...]

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Staring at Acoustic Ceiling Tiles

by Pete Abilla January 25, 2010
This entry is part 5 of 28 in the series queueing theory

There is a Design Thinking opportunity to Emergency Room care.  In my previous post, I discussed the time involved in waiting to receive care -queueing properties of ER care.  What I didn’t discuss is the feeling and experience of the patient during care.  That’s the topic for this post today. We know that ER Wait [...]

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Poka-Yoke Pharmaceuticals

by Pete Abilla August 17, 2009

King Pharmaceutical (NYSE: KG) recently had a drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).  Their drug, Embeda, has an interesting property: If you take the medication as prescribed, it works fine; if you abuse the medication, it ceases to work.  This is Poka-Yoke (ポカヨケ) for Pharmaceutical drugs. Poka-Yoke (ポカヨケ), translated, means mistake-proof, or [...]

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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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Elegance and Encapsulation

by Pete Abilla June 19, 2009

Hiding unnecessary information from a customer is good business. Have you ever had an interaction with a business, where your goal was to get served, but instead the business shares their problems with you? Were you left thinking “I’ve got problems of my own, I don’t need or care to know yours. Just give me [...]

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The Source of Dirt

by Pete Abilla May 26, 2009

In Amazon’s 2008 letter to shareholders, Jeff Bezos shares about a Kaizen event he participated in: At a fulfillment center recently, one of our Kaizen experts asked me, “I’m in favor of a clean fulfillment center, but why are you cleaning? Why don’t you eliminate the source of dirt?” I’ve spoken numerous times about Bezos [...]

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Off-Topic: Win an AIG Maraca

by Pete Abilla March 23, 2009

Last night, I was on the floor playing with my toddler and I noticed that he was shaking a maraca — so we had a daddy/baby jam session, with me tapping on the carpet and with him shaking the maraca.  Then, I noticed what the maraca said: “AIG – Sun America”. I thought, “hey, maybe [...]

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