In my last post I started a sarcastic post on how to bring your organization to a standstill… not because I want that, but so you can see what NOT to do to in order to improve your organization. Many of the ideas are based on the US Simple Sabotage Field Manual and the Total Resistance: Swiss Army Guide to Guerilla Warfare and Underground Instructions, but adapted to a modern factory environment. Below I continue the list of ideas for how to screw up your company. I’m sure you have seen some of them in action, even though they were not intended that way. Again: This is for you to see what NOT to do. Please enjoy!
How to Grind Your Organization to a Standstill—Part 1
I write a lot of posts explaining what to do to improve your organization. But occasionally I write a (sarcastic!) explanation on how to make everything worse. Of course, I don’t want to make your organization worse. However, it is valuable to see what makes things worse, and in turn how to avoid exactly these things so as NOT to make it worse. Maybe—and I am optimistic here—maybe even try to do the opposite and make it better? Anyway, let’s learn how (not?) to screw up an organization…
On China’s Manufacturing Catch Up—Part 2
In my last post I started to talk about the remarkable increase in the Chinese manufacturing industry over the last decades, and how China is nowadays the manufacturing workshop for the world. Yet, in addition to opportunities, there are also challenges ahead. In my last post I described that it gets harder to catch up on technology the closer you come to the front runner (example chip making), but that there are plenty of opportunities in new industries (electric cars, solar cells). I also mentioned that past quality flaws also still have an impact on Chinese reputation. In this post I will continue with more challenges and opportunities for Chinese manufacturing. This series of posts is a mixture of facts and a lot more opinions, so feel free to disagree.
On China’s Manufacturing Catch-Up—Part 1
A lot of the stuff you own comes from China, either as a completed product or with plenty of parts that were assembled elsewhere. “Made in China” is a label you see very often when looking for the source of your products, albeit not everybody is convinced of the quality. In this series of two blog posts I want to look at how China improved its technological know-how as well as its manufacturing proficiency, and what challenges it faces as well as in its opportunities to completely close the gap with the Western world. This series of posts is a mixture of facts and a lot more opinions, so feel free to disagree.
On the Importance of Deep Dives
To manage your shop floor, or maybe even improve it, you need to understand it. Yet, the complexity of modern manufacturing makes it all but impossible to truly understand the system and all its aspects and correlations, and the whole mess that we call “unintended consequences.” Hence, you need occasional deep dives in addition to the big-picture view. In this blog post, I will talk more about deep dives. Let’s… ahem… go diving…
Why Is So Important for Managers to Listen!
In lean, there is a lot of talk about “learning to see,” with the goal of better understanding the shop floor. This is, of course, important. However, another important aspect is listening, both on the shop floor and elsewhere. This blog post goes deeper into why and how to listen to the shop floor, or generally the gemba.
The Benefit for Denso of Reducing Fluctuations
I have written a lot about leveling and the value of fluctuation in previous blog posts. In this post I will show quantitatively what the benefit of reduced fluctuations is for Denso, part of the Toyota group and a supplier to many other car makers too.
On the Eighth Wastes of Unused Human Creativity
Reducing or eliminating waste (muda) is one of the approaches to lean manufacturing. Traditionally, Toyota uses seven types of waste. In the Western world, an eighth type of waste is also often used, namely “unused human creativity.” There is much discussion whether this is a good, useful waste to analyze or not. As I started to write this article, I saw this type of waste as not so helpful in lean manufacturing. Colleen Soppelsa, whose opinion I respect very much, on the other hand, sees it as a very helpful type of waste. Time to sort out my thoughts and reconsider the pros and cons of including “unused human creativity” in the lineup of the types of waste. Maybe by the end of this article I will change my mind. Let’s see…