Visual management and the team meeting
Visual management is linked to and forms a part of 5S. Visual management allows us to picture and then effectively attend to the performance in an area. It’s a tool which, through use, creates a point of power from which to focus on parts of a business in a manner that encourages communication between people.…
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Leader Standard Work
Firstly, I want to acknowledge friend and Lean practitioner role model Barry McCarthy for the inspiration to write my thoughts down on Leader Standard Work. His talks during the 2019 AME conference in Melbourne allowed me to form the basis of this article. Most people think of Leaders and managers as the same thing and…
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Standard Work allows Kaizen
Standard work is one of the foundational elements of embedding Lean into a business. A Point from which to Improve Standard work is important from the perspective that its documentation gives you a point from which to improve. If a standard isn’t set – a consistent way of working – then the ability to improve…
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Where Kaizen and Lean Meet
The symbiosis of Lean and Kaizen Kaizen is an interesting concept. It’s a separate element to Lean. Lean is about waste elimination, put simply. Kaizen is the focus of continuous improvement and innovative thinking (practical wisdom, my friend Barry McCarthy calls it). The two are not mutually exclusive, but they are distinct components. I want…
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In an industry all about growth of product, growth of people is important too
I recently had the opportunity to conduct a value stream mapping exercise with a wholesale nursery to help identify constraints in their processes. They have millions of items to deliver in a year – an incredible operation. So, we are dealing with a perishable product with a finite time frame for delivery. Significant challenges exist…
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Why Stand Up Meetings Belong In Lean Business Culture
My First Stand-up Meeting I came across stand-up meetings many years ago. I had a very forward-thinking project manager and I was a team leader mechanic. He had set up a daily stand-up meeting with a visual management and KPI board. The meetings were held in the workshop on a mine site. In other words,…
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Why A Lean Practitioner Is Just Like An Endurance Coach
I recently made an exciting discovery I’d like to share with you. It’s about the connection between Lean coaching and endurance sports coaching. I’ve been practising for the local mountain bike enduro-competition that is held in Western Australia. In preparation, I’d signed up for a coaching clinic run by a former world champion rider. It was…
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New Format Improves Access to Lean Foundation Workshops
We’ve had some valuable feedback from the December launch of our Lean Foundations Workshop. This year we are planning to run the workshop over two half days to make it even easier for you to attend. First Half Day This first session offers a chance for you to understand the theory behind Lean. This information-rich…
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Lean & Continuous Improvement At Character Group
We’ve been implementing Lean business practice and Continuous Improvement over several years at Character Cabinets and Stone with Character, collectively known as the Character Group. There are a lot of different layers to this work. I thought you might be interested to have a look at a few of the major things we tried to put…
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Three Essential Elements of Building Flow In A Workplace
If you are a manager interested to boost efficiency, it’s important for you to build an environment where there is a flow to work processes. There are three main areas that you’ll need to think about. Build Environments That Support Consistency Build an environment where a process can happen consistently, and people can get through work…
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