Adaptable Business
Five Things Dictating How Bad It Will Be Coming Out of the Pandemic
For months I’ve been on the phone almost every day with business executives around the world in virtually every industry. [...]
Sep 14, 2020Expert insights category
Rons Articles
Lean Manufacturing
Interview with Joann Parrinder, APICS President: Innovating Ideas into Action with 5S
Ron Crabtree The concept of 5S, which is a methodology to reduce waste through a rigorous approach to workplace organization [...]
Nov 12, 2017
Lean Manufacturing
Interview with MetaExpert™ Gary Wickett: Are You Seeing All the Waste?
Ron Crabtree We're going to touch on something near and dear to our hearts in any kind of a business [...]
Nov 12, 2017
Rons Articles
Lean Six Sigma and Supply Chain Management – the Time Has Come to Converge
Supply Chain Management (SCM) and Lean Six Sigma (LSS) have operated pretty much independently of one another as each of [...]
Jul 10, 2017
Rons Articles
Lean Six Sigma in K-12 Public Schools Near You?
We recently completed an organizational opportunity assessment for a K-12 public school system in my home state of Michigan. Implementing [...]
Jul 10, 2017
Rons Articles
Lean Approaches to Rapid Product and Services Development
Bringing new products and services to market quickly, that meet and ideally exceed customer expectations for value utility, needs to [...]
Jul 10, 2017
Rons Articles
Lean in Service Industries, Sales and Marketing – The Time Has Come
https://metaexperts.com/lean-thinking-companies-dont-throw-away-your-computers/ Over the last year I have been heavily involved in helping to apply Lean ideas in different service sectors [...]
Jul 10, 2017
Rons Articles
Lean Tools Boost Competitive Performance in New Product and Service Development
The ability to reduce lead times is a key differentiator in competitive markets, service industries and the nonprofit arena. All [...]
Jul 10, 2017
Rons Articles
Six Sigma – A Focus on Quality and Eliminating Variation
Six Sigma is a scientific term that some smart guys figured out how to coin into a new important buzzword [...]
Jul 10, 2017
Rons Articles
TOC Continuous Improvement Methodologies and Their Relation to Lean
APICS has been heavily involved with understanding and applying the theory of constraints (TOC) for a number of years now. [...]
Jul 10, 2017
Rons Articles
Lean in the ERP World
Lean and ERP together is an oxymoron in the minds of many people – and this is no surprise when [...]
Jul 10, 2017
Rons Articles
Implementing Lean – Risks, Pitfalls and Avoiding Them Both
Thousands of businesses around the world have been jumping on the Lean bandwagon over the last 20 years. Of late, [...]
Jul 4, 2017
Rons Articles
Implementing Lean or World Class Manufacturing – Don’t Underestimate the Effort
In the good old days, one of the toughest projects one could tackle would be running an ERP implementation project [...]
Jul 4, 2017
Rons Articles
Keys to Success in Operational Excellence/Lean Six Sigma – What You Want to Know
Here is a startling statistic: In my estimation eight or nine out of ten organizations embarking on a continuous improvement [...]
Jul 4, 2017
Rons Articles
Improving Your Productivity with Lean Six Sigma
As I have detailed in previous columns, there has been a great deal written about applying Lean Six Sigma (LSS) [...]
Jul 4, 2017
Rons Articles
Improving the Order Entry Process with Lean Six Sigma
Sometimes when we start investigating issues related to rework and scrap on the shop floor we discover the real root [...]
Jul 4, 2017
Rons Articles
High Performing Teams - Lean Six Sigma Depends on Them!
In this and the next installment of this column, I will share with you some of the secrets to leveraging [...]
Jul 3, 2017
Rons Articles
Hoshin Kanri and Policy Deployment – Demystified
Companies routinely struggle with how to link new found Lean approaches to their traditional annual strategic and tactical planning. It [...]
Jul 3, 2017
Rons Articles
Getting Lean Six Sigma Circle Teams to Work – It’s Not Plug ‘n Play.
A zillion years ago (OK, let’s say 1985) when I was working in the automotive supply chain in materials management [...]
Jul 3, 2017
Rons Articles
Cycle Counting and Lean – Together
If you’re wondering why I am talking about cycle counting in the Lean Culture department, please be patient – it [...]
Jul 3, 2017
Rons Articles
Can Lean and Six Sigma Play Nice Together – What is the Case for Lean Six Sigma?
There is an ongoing debate in the business world regarding the difference between Lean and Six Sigma, and whether they [...]
Jul 3, 2017
Rons Articles
Buy-in: Key to Success in Lean Six Sigma and OpEx
In the first of this two-part series I introduced the concept of a lack of buy-in as a key roadblock [...]
Jul 3, 2017
Rons Articles
Applying Lean Six Sigma to Improve HR Effectiveness
If you have been a reader of this column for the past three months, you now have some foundational understanding [...]
Jul 3, 2017
Rons Articles
Lean Six Sigma Supply Chain Procurement Strategies for Smaller Businesses
Smaller Entities have the Same Supplier Development Issues as Large Companies If it is true a chain is only as [...]
Jul 3, 2017
Rons Articles
So, You Want to be an ERP Consultant?
A career in consulting may seem glamorous, but has its own issues – so be careful what you ask for, [...]
Jul 3, 2017
Rons Articles
Step Up to Lean: Why Lean Implementations Fail
Over the last 20 years, many articles, books, and case studies have been written about Lean Manufacturing implementations. In those [...]
Jul 3, 2017
Rons Articles
Leveraging Lean Six Sigma - RESULTS in Business Process Reengineering
It does not seem all that long ago that business process reengineering (BPR) was sweeping most industries. Actually, it was [...]
Jul 3, 2017
Rons Articles
Lean in the Warehouse?
If you are wondering how Lean plays in warehousing situations, rest easy – it does very well. Years ago, as [...]
Jul 3, 2017
Rons Articles
Writing Project Charters That Deliver a Solid ROI
When I was dragged kicking and screaming from the traditional approaches to management into the practice of Lean Six Sigma [...]
Jul 3, 2017
Rons Articles
Winning the Lean Game
Learn how to follow the Toyota Production System rules I recently read “Decoding the DNA of the Toyota Production System” [...]
Jul 3, 2017
Rons Articles
Vilfredo Pareto and the 80-20 Rule in Lean
In 1848, there was born a gentleman by the name of Vilfredo Federico Damaso Pareto in Italy. He was an [...]
Jul 3, 2017
Rons Articles
Traditional Accounting & Lean & World Class Manufacturing Implementation
Implementing the World Class (Lean) Enterprise – Why Traditional Accounting Approaches Get in the Way, and What to do about [...]
Jul 3, 2017
Rons Articles
The Skinny on Lean Six Sigma
As a developer and instructor for Villanova University’s LSS online program (www.villanovau.com), I get a lot of questions about how [...]
Jul 3, 2017
Rons Articles
The Missing Link in Leadership
There are two key management skills that seem to be missing in every management training program in most colleges and [...]
Jul 3, 2017
Rons Articles
The Art of Mapping - Process vs. Value Stream
Deciding between process or value stream I teach operational excellence with lean and Six Sigma techniques together, and there seems [...]
Jul 3, 2017
Rons Articles
Stop the CRAZY Waste
Here’s a startling, even crazy, fact. The average organization WASTES between 30% and 70% of its money every day. That’s [...]
Jul 3, 2017
Rons Articles
SCM and LSS Convergence IV APICS Supply Chain Management and Lean Six Sigma
How does your organization stack up on the continuum describing best practices in the convergence of Supply Chain Management (SCM) [...]
Jul 3, 2017
Rons Articles
SCM and LSS Convergence II Supply Chain Management and Lean Six Sigma
In the second of a series of progressive articles on this topic, I will continue expanding on the blending of [...]
Jul 3, 2017
Rons Articles
Process Mapping or Value Stream Mapping – Which to Use
I teach lean and Six Sigma techniques together, and there seems to be a lot of questions around the differences [...]
Jul 3, 2017
Rons Articles
Problem Solving 101
In the last column, I introduced a simple way to identify the areas of concern that will get everyone excited [...]
Jul 3, 2017
Rons Articles
Leveraging Lean Six Sigma and RFID Together to Build a Solid ROI
Businesses will typically attempt to evaluate the financial effects before adopting any new technology such as Radio Frequency ID (RFID). [...]
Jul 3, 2017
Rons Articles
Traditional Accounting - a Barrier to Lean & World Class Manufacturing
Traditional Accounting – a Barrier to Implementing the World Class (Lean) Enterprise, and What to Do About it In the [...]
Jul 3, 2017
Rons Articles
Leveraging Lean Six Sigma - Wringing Out Costs
Alas, as is true in the private and non-profit sectors, a great plan is useless without execution and the will [...]
Jul 3, 2017
Rons Articles
Lean, Automation and the Medical Lab
Everyone is a potential healthcare customer, so leveraging automation and lean may provide some critical benefits. When one thinks about [...]
Jul 3, 2017
Rons Articles
Lean Thinking Companies Dont Throw Away Your Computers Just Yet
An Executive Overview – Traditional IT Tools versus Lean Manufacturing; the Technology Applications Needed to Support the World-Class Organization. This [...]
Jul 3, 2017
Rons Articles
Lean Six Sigma and Innovation
Every time I think about the importance of innovation to the future of our businesses, I can’t help but think [...]
Jul 3, 2017
Rons Articles
Lean Culture Ask the “Why” Questions First
Why go the brick and mortar route when the needed space may be right under your nose? Finding ways to [...]
Jul 3, 2017
Rons Articles
Lean and Green Supply Chain
“Going Green” means we must challenge conventional wisdom and find new and creative ways to become eco-friendly in our businesses. [...]
Jul 3, 2017
Rons Articles
Is Introducing Automation and Embracing Lean and Oxymoron
In case you are wondering what the term “oxymoron” is all about, let’s take a look at the definition found [...]
Jul 3, 2017
Rons Articles
Compensation in the Lean Enterprise
Below is an interesting question that many companies struggle with their efforts to motivate and provide incentives for their employees. [...]
Jul 3, 2017
Rons Articles
Introduction to Pull Systems – Implementation Dilemmas
We recently received an e-mail note from someone who had attended one of our seminars, with this question: “We basically [...]
Jul 3, 2017
Rons Articles
Implementing Lean World Class Manufacturing Means Major Changes - Recipe for Success (or Failure)
Implementing lean requires “Urgency for Change.” The lack of it means disappointment or even complete failure in implementing lean/world-class manufacturing. [...]
Jul 3, 2017
Rons Articles
So You Want to Implement TEAMS in Your Factory?
Getting started on the journey to team-based manufacturing is either a well thought-out move by insightful managers, or (most often) [...]
Jul 3, 2017
Rons Articles
Hoshin Planning and Nemawashi – Keys to Effective Planning and Deployment
You are precisely on-track with your line of thinking. There is an added aspect of Hoshin planning that is not [...]
Jul 3, 2017
Rons Articles
GPR and Value Stream Mapping―Matched for Success
Hordes of people around the world and, more specifically, in government services have been adopting aspects of Business Process Reengineering [...]
Jul 3, 2017
Rons Articles
Developing a Risk Management Plan for Your Lean Implementation – a Distribution Center Case Study
Managing risk in your planning and during the implementation of a lean initiative–or any other major change initiative for that [...]
Jul 3, 2017
Rons Articles
Circle Teams Organization: Critical Questions
In this second in a series of articles (part one appears in the July/August Lean Culture), we will continue taking [...]
Jul 3, 2017
Rons Articles
Circle Teams at Work – Stories from the Trenches
The good and the bad I’ll share the stories of three circle teams that have been formed over the last [...]
Jul 3, 2017
Rons Articles
A Key Building Block for Successfully Implementing Lean/World-Class Value Stream Management: Communications
If you have been following this department through the year thus far, you are now likely wondering about some of [...]
Jul 3, 2017
Rons Articles
Assessing organizational readiness for Lean Six Sigma (LSS): Critical Questions
The sad truth is this: 8 or 9 out of 10 organizations that embark on a continuous improvement program, such [...]
Jul 3, 2017
Rons Articles
A Lean View on CLEAN
In conversations with Wally Klatch about the concepts of CLEAN (reference earlier e-news article?) I found the ideas challenging and [...]
Jun 27, 2017