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May 2007

Six Sigma, Lean, and Executive Satisfaction

by Pete Abilla on May 30, 2007

how to become an executive manager, promotion

Bain and Company recently published their Management & Tools 2007 Survey.  In that survey, both Lean and Six Sigma are included as part of the management tools used by companies.  What is interesting are the satisfaction rates of those tools, as reported by the executives that completed the survey. Below are some data collection heuristics: [...]

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Six Sigma Workbook For Dummies — The Raffle

by Pete Abilla on May 25, 2007

Submit your Six Sigma questions and enter a chance to win Six Sigma Workbook For Dummies, an industry bestseller since its publication in 2005.  We are fortunate to have Craig Gygi, the lead author of Six Sigma for Dummies and the companion Six Sigma Workbook For Dummies to answer reader’s questions for this raffle. To [...]

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Reacting to Visual Cues

by Pete Abilla on May 22, 2007

facility design, visual design, visual management

The Toyota Production System makes effective use of visual cues to mark location in time and space, boundaries, and to answer the question “How am I doing” in a production setting.  Visual Cues are a simple but effective mechanism. The assumption — and, what empirical evidence supports — is that we react automatically to objects [...]

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eBay and Toyota: Respect for People

by Pete Abilla on May 21, 2007

ebay customer service

A pillar of Toyota is “Respect for People.”  This concept is explained well in the Toyota Code of Conduct.  This is not new to students of Lean Manufacturing or The Toyota Production System.  Since joining eBay two weeks ago, I’m seeing some parallels between Toyota and eBay.  The main similarity is, indeed, Respect For People. [...]

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The Mind of Jeff Bezos

by Pete Abilla on May 18, 2007

innovation at amazon.com, jeff bezos

I’ve worked at a few companies since Amazon and, as time passes, I’m realizing how wise Jeff Bezos really is.  Despite the geeky perception, Jeff Bezos really was visionary in many, many ways.  Three ways in which I believe he was absolutely visionary is in his (1) focus on the customer, (2) in the product and software development practices [...]

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Queueing Psychology at the Gas Pump

by Pete Abilla on May 10, 2007

gas prices, oil prices, gas station

More and more gas stations have television displays that play commercials and T.V. shows as you pump gas.  While the primary motivation for these firms is to increase brand awareness through commercialization and penetration, this entertain-while-you-wait is also a manifestation of Queueing Psychology. There are a few key behavioral responses or reactions to queues, or [...]

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Jacob’s Oven and Lean

by Pete Abilla on May 8, 2007

charity work with jacob's oven

My family and I are supporters of the Jacob’s Oven Project, which is a charity to help mothers and families in Africa become more self-reliant.  It’s a very cool project and my wife and I are helping.  We’ve donated an Oven and have called it “Preston”, the name of our adopted child.  Also, any proceeds [...]

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The Flateto Principle

by Pete Abilla on May 3, 2007

how to create a pareto chart in excel

As opposed to a Pareto, where the picture of the data shows a nice stratification and separation in the data, a Flateto is exactly the opposite: the visual picture is one where there is no separation — all the bars are of equal length.  Essentially, a Flateto doesn’t tell us where to spend our time [...]

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