Posts tagged as:

lean

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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Ride the Wave, Not the Board

by Pete Abilla August 9, 2010

I was on vacation recently and, on one of the days, we went to Lindamar Beach at Pedro Point in Pacifica.  That was the beach I went to, probably 3 out of 5 days, at 5 AM during my senior year – to surf.  Needless to say, I wasn’t at school much my senior year, [...]

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Lean and Six Sigma: PDCA and DMAIC Comparison

by Pete Abilla July 31, 2010
This entry is part 6 of 28 in the series Lean and Six Sigma

Integrating or reconciling the PDCA framework from Lean and DMAIC from Six Sigma is the topic of this post. Since both methodologies and frameworks share a common history, it is no surprise that integrating their respective frameworks was not difficult to do. Below is my attempt at exactly that. Below the PDCA and DMAIC comparison [...]

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A Grave Error: Arlington National Cemetery Quality Problems

by Pete Abilla July 13, 2010

At least 211 United States veterans are in unmarked or unrecorded graves in Arlington National Cemetery 1. Army officials report that remains were found in graves listed as “empty” and several urns were discovered on a “pile of dirt”. Like most quality problems, this is most likely just the tip of the iceberg. There are [...]

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Affinity Diagram

by Pete Abilla July 13, 2010
This entry is part 8 of 28 in the series Lean and Six Sigma

A common tool in process improvement is the Affinity Diagram. It’s a simple exercise that encourages low-risk participation and it is effective in documenting most of the relevant issues with a specific topic. What is an Affinity Diagram An Affinity Diagram (sometimes referred to as a “KJ”, after the initials of the person who created [...]

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Genchi Genbutsu: Go and See, Part 1

by Pete Abilla June 19, 2010
This entry is part 1 of 5 in the series genchi genbutsu

In Lean Thinking, “Go and See” is more of a management mindset than a technique or tool applied. To contrast, here are two approaches to learning about and solving problems (these are general comments): In the West: problems are learned about and solved in a conference room or in a boardroom; there is distance. Decisions [...]

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No Standard, Then No Kaizen

by Pete Abilla April 23, 2010

Taiichi Ohno is credited with having said: When there is no standard, there is no Kaizen In other words, when a process is performed unsystematically in different ways, then: There can be no basis for comparison (before/after) One cannot objectively tell if there was a difference or change No improvement is possible in regards to [...]

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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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Same Process, Different Context

by Pete Abilla March 26, 2010

The other day, I spent some time with a group within fulfillment and distribution.  In speaking with a few of the members of that group, I realized that our process is roughly the same process for admitting patients in an emergency room.  Then, it dawned on me. Same Process, Different Context.  And, Context is Everything. [...]

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