Video: Toyota Lexus RX Factory, Cambridge, Ontario, Canada

by Pete Abilla August 25, 2010

For those that are students of Lean Manufacturing or the Toyota Production System, but have not stepped inside a Toyota plant, this video will give you a sense of what it looks like. What you won’t see are many examples of Lean, except for a few: Minute 3:21 – You’ll see a runner, delivering a [...]

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Red Bead Experiment: Part 3

by Pete Abilla August 24, 2010
This entry is part 22 of 28 in the series Lean and Six Sigma

This is Part 3 of the Deming Red Bead Experiment Video Tutorial. But, before the tutorial, below is a biography of Dr. W. Edwards Deming (credit to the deming.org), the creator of the Red Bead Experiment. Biography of Dr. W. Edwards Deming William Edwards Deming was born in Sioux City, Iowa on 14 October 1900 [...]

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Red Bead Experiment: Part 2

by Pete Abilla August 23, 2010
This entry is part 19 of 28 in the series Lean and Six Sigma

Part 1 explained the Red Bead Experiment. In Part 2, I’ll share the a video tutorial on the Red Bead Experiment – part 2 of that video series. Before we get to the video, below are Dr. Deming’s Fourteen Points – the principles by which he practiced management and quality management. Deming Fourteen Points “Create [...]

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Red Bead Experiment: Part 1

by Pete Abilla August 22, 2010
This entry is part 2 of 28 in the series Lean and Six Sigma

The Red Bead Experiment is a metaphor for problems, where the red beads represent “bad” and white represent “good”. It is a teaching tool mostly used in manufacturing or instruction in quality management. The Red Bead Experiment was created by Dr. W. Edwards Deming, the person who influenced Toyota who, later, would develop The Toyota [...]

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Control Charts

by Pete Abilla August 21, 2010
This entry is part 15 of 28 in the series Lean and Six Sigma

This post will briefly explain and answer “What is a Control Chart?” and also quickly explain “How to Create a Control Chart?” through a video tutorial of a Control Chart. First off: entire books and PhD dissertations are written about Control Charts – this short post won’t do it justice. So, please learn on your [...]

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Run Chart

by Pete Abilla August 20, 2010
This entry is part 14 of 28 in the series Lean and Six Sigma

Run charts, also known as line graphs, display process performance over time. This post will explain “What is a Run Chart?”, show an example, and provide a video tutorial on how to create a Run Chart in Excel. Upward and downward trends, cycles, and large aberrations may be spotted and investigated further. In a run [...]

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Jeff Bezos: It is Harder to be Kind than Clever

by Pete Abilla August 19, 2010

Jeff Bezos gave a wonderful commencement  address to the Princeton University 2010 Baccalaureate class. In that speech, he shares some wisdom he learned from his grandfather that has stayed with him all throughout his life. Here’s that video, followed by the speech in text: “We are What We Choose” Remarks by Jeff Bezos, as delivered [...]

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Blendtec: Genchi Genbutsu and Visual Management

by Pete Abilla August 18, 2010

We went to Costco last weekend and there was a demonstration for Blendtec Blender – you know, those Blendtec “Will it Blend” viral videos on YouTube with that white-coat crazy scientist Blendtec founder blending everything from brooms to the iPhone. As a side-note: I met the founder and CEO of Blendtec, Tom Dickson, about 12 [...]

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Focus on the Inputs

by Pete Abilla August 17, 2010

In the April 2010 Letter to Shareholders, Jeff Bezos tells Amazon.com shareholders about their focus on inputs, the customer, and their purposeful lack of discussion around financial metrics: Senior leaders that are new to Amazon are often surprised by how little time we spend discussing actual financial results or debating projected financial outputs. To be [...]

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