Lean Management Journal – “Servants to the Cause” by Joseph Paris


We have all been there at least once in our lives. It might be that we are faced with a single, big, fat, hairy challenge and we don’t know where to start. Or it might be that we are faced with several challenges at once; each one not particularly overwhelming, but together are; with each…

These approaches can also be applied to Continuous Improvement, Lean, or Six Sigma Programs. I started my first business, XONITEK, in August of 1985. I still own its latest incarnation located in Jackson Wyoming. Having owned my own businesses for the last 37 years makes me uniquely unemployable. Perhaps that could change given the right…
Increasingly, successful companies are beginning to recognize that good brand relationships with their employees are more important than good brand relationships with their customers. They understand that employees should be happy first in order to make the customers happy and that corporate brand loyalty starts with employee’s engagement. This can be realized by aligning the…
Introduction: The authors were faced with a mounting problem: Sales forecasts were continuing to deteriorate and Corporate was mandating a traditional application of Sales & Operational Planning (S&OP). This application relied on forecasts and static data. Static data is sufficient where forecasts and run-rates are consistent, though that is simply not the case in the…

It’s been a tough several years for Toyota. Information gained from the Toyota website indicates that, in 2013 alone (as of October), there have been almost 3.5 MILLION vehicles recalled. Considering the total units produced in 2012 (latest annual figures available) was 9.9 million; that’s an annual recall rate of over 1/3rd (35%) of vehicles…

I am going to call 2008 “The Year of Quicksand”. 2008 started-out relatively strong and at-ease – but this proved deceptive as the observable global heath was hiding the real rot underneath. All it took was one miss-step, and the struggle began. And it seemed that the more we struggled, the deeper we sank –…