Kaizen, commonly referred to as “continuous improvement,” proves very helpful in many workplaces. Businesses and organizations create cultures where employees constantly look for small changes they can make to improve the way the facility operates. Over time, these small improvements can lead to significant improvements in efficiency overall. We always enjoy hearing about unique ways kaizen ideas have been used both in and outside the workplace. This…
What if kaizen and lean thinking were implemented at a charity like a food bank? You might end up with an organization that looks like the Food Bank for New York City, the country’s largest food bank, which has distributed more than 63 million meals worth of food in the past year. Under its current leadership, the food bank’s workers have looked for ways to run their charity…
The Right Lean Tools for Manufacturing Lean manufacturing has been growing in popularity for quite some time now. While every facility implements it slightly differently, they can all benefit from having the right lean tools for manufacturing. Look at the following key tools and see if your facility is using them properly. 5S Methodologies This is perhaps the most well known lean tool for manufacturing. It has…
Basic Overview of Kanban Learning about Kanban can be a great way to help improve just about any production process. While the word may sound odd to most people, the processes involved have been proven effective for nearly half a century. The concept was first developed at Toyota, and has now been accepted by thousands of companies as a best practice for logistic controls. The word Kanban…
Most people are familiar with the normal Six Sigma methodologies that are used to help make improvements to products or services within a facility. In fact, the standard Six Sigma process has become the industry best practice for most process or product improvements. When you are creating a new product, however, the standard Six Sigma process just doesn’t work. This is why the Design for Six Sigma,…