So, you are thinking about embarking upon a Continuous Improvement (CI) Journey at your company. Or, more than likely, you are going to be RE-embarking upon a CI Journey at your company. But where do you start? At the beginning, of course… “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” – Lao…
Background What is lean? The majority of people when asked this question reply “waste elimination”. This is true. However, Taiichi Ohno’s original definition of lean was “the complete and thorough elimination of waste to reduce the timeline from receipt of customer order to delivery”. To achieve this more complete definition necessitates the creation of product…
I write a lot of articles in which I address the issues and concerns of warehouses, distribution centers and manufacturing. In case you haven’t noticed – domestic manufacturers are facing a world of hurt these days. And I have heard every reason imaginable as to why domestic manufacturing is in such a state – much…
My father, who was a manager at International Business Machines (IBM), once told me; “If it were not for the ‘people problems’, management would be easy.” In the world of management, and management consulting, truer words were never spoken. And so is the challenge with most consulting engagements, especially when the words “transformational change” are uttered….
Background: From 1987 until 2009 I was CEO of Interbake Foods, a food processing company headquartered in Richmond, Virginia. We competed in four business segments: Girl Scout cookies, contract manufacturing for branded companies, private label cookies sold to retailers, and baked ingredients for ice cream processors (primarily ice cream sandwich cookies and cones). Interbake had…
