The KaiZone

Improving the business of life

Better, Faster AND Cheaper. Mission: Possible!

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Quotes from the KaiZone

Queue the music . . .

“Good afternoon lean thinkers and students of TPS.  There is an urgent situation emerging with a provider of a very important good/service.  Operational performance needs improvement, and fast!  Quality is poor, and is resulting in large quantities of rework and complaints from customers.  At the same time. the organization is finding it difficult to react to a rapidly changing market due to its slow and inefficient processes.  Compounding the situation, costs are already lagging behind the competition.  Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to assist this organization in improving its operational woes.  This post will self-destruct in 5 seconds.  Good luck!”

Mission: Impossible?

The highest quality.  The shortest lead time.  The lowest cost.  We all know these as the three objectives of the Toyota Production System.  But whether it’s recognized or not,  all organizations at all times face the same three challenges to operational performance:  how to improve quality, delivery AND cost.  The emphasis on the word “and” in the previous sentence is intentional.  Here’s why. [Read more…]

 

Is Knowing Less the Secret to Lean Success?

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Quotes from the KaiZone

Ralph Waldo Emerson was quoted as saying, “I hate quotes.”  Luck you.  As I’ve been told by countless college writing professors – not to mention readers of this blog – I’m no Emerson!  There’s nothing I like more than a good quote, which is why every month I am shamelessly stealing and expounding on the wisdom of others to bring you Quotes from @TheKaiZone.  

Deep down inside, I’d like to think of myself as a fairly well-adjusted person (although, those of you who really know me might beg to differ).  But I am definitely not without my share of . . . let’s just call them “quirks”.

For example, I suffer – gloriously, I might add – from a mild case of obsessive-compulsive disorder.  This is my personal hell.

How to Torture Someone with OCD

How bad is it, you ask?   [Read more…]

 

The Pursuit of Perfection

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Quotes from the KaiZone

Ralph Waldo Emerson was quoted as saying, “I hate quotes.”  Luck you.  As I’ve been told by countless college writing professors, and readers of this blog, I’m no Emerson!  There’s nothing I like more than a good quote, which is why every month I am shamelessly stealing and expounding on the wisdom of others to bring you Quotes from The KaiZone.  

This month’s quote comes to us from one of my favorite Lean thinkers, Steven Spear.  In his book, The High-Velocity Edge, Mr. Spear offers the following commentary on the growing complexity in our world:

[Read more…]