Monday, February 28, 2011

Old Lean Dude


My friend, Bruce Hamilton (aka the toast guy from the Toast Kaizen DVD) has started a new blog called Old Lean Dude. In his blog, Bruce gives an insightful look with his lean thinking to help us better understand the Toyota Production System. Sharing his reflections and observations on the lean philosophy we can develop our eyes for improvement.

Check out Bruce’s posts and comment back to him for two-way communication. Ask him about learning directly from the master, Shigeo Shingo. Ask him why is the sink filled with dirty dishes and isn’t a dishwasher really a batch process?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

well, I am totally confused with many of lean terms and I don't know how to implement them in real life as I fell there are many contradiction in lean topic. like for instance Kiazen and GEMBA I think all of them are continuous improvement tools and 5s and visual management they both are same. can you explain how GEMBA be implemented I believe it need readiness and awareness from top management and pass it through the whole organisation exactly kaizen. I am sure lean is useful but I still count digest the whole terms and what are their roles in real life.

cheers ;)

Mike Wroblewski said...

Dear Anonymous,

Don't get discouraged by the confusion with lean terms, it happens to all of us. Yes, there are contradictions and counter intuitive ideas in lean. Kaizen is change for the good or also used for continuous improvement. Gemba is actual place or place where work happens. Gemba is not a method but a location. Top management readiness and awareness is extremely important but sometimes they need to see it before they buy into it. You are on the right path by asking questions!

Cheers.