Comments for The Lean Thinker

Comment on Travel Tales by Mark Rosenthal

Mark Rosenthal — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 01:44:31 +0000

Kris -
Oh I fully agree.
I certainly was not proposing a software solution. They already have that.
The question is one around process.
But before there is a process, they must be clear on purpose.
Right now the airline industry (with a couple of exceptions – who are ironically the most profitable players) is focused on costs, not customers. That translates to “inaction until action is forced” as a culture.

The other players are fortunate that Southwest has no aspiration to become a dominate global player.

Comment on Travel Tales by Kris Hallan

Kris Hallan — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 19:45:19 +0000

Your “What if…” describing an alternative solution sounded just like the IBM commercials that always end with “I’m an IBMer…”. The commercials always act like some improved software will interconnect everything and generally make everything better. They are great commercials but…

I’m always pretty jaded by the commercials because they talk about the IBM software and everything they do as if the software will make everything work better. The software makes everything simpler, more visual, and faster. Much like lean tools however, it all falls in the hands of the people using it. They still have to have a stake in what is happening and have some clear direction on what good is. All of the great tools are meaningless without well developed people who care about a customer. The airline industries are a prime example of their being plenty of information and no one is given the autonomy and training to use it all.

Comment on Travel Tales by Mark Rosenthal

Mark Rosenthal — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 00:29:45 +0000

With today’s bar coding systems, the likelihood of the bag getting on the wrong plane is much less than it was in the past – as long as the correct tag is on it. (I always pay attention to the destination code when they put the tag on the bag – caught an RNO tag going on my SEA bag once. (The guy going to Reno was saved too…)

Rather, what happens today is the bag doesn’t get on the plane at all as was the case here. Usually it is because there wasn’t enough time in a tight connection.

Other things that disrupt the flow are when the original leg after a connection is changed – you missed the flight, etc. At that point, your bag is categorized as one to get onto “next available” rather than a specific flight. That was likely what happened here.

Comment on Travel Tales by Tom Warda

Tom Warda — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 13:31:12 +0000

What always amazes me about the lost luggage people is that they almost always are able to find your bag pretty quickly. “Yes, it’s in Burbank.” If they know with such certainty where it is, why couldn’t they have prevented it from going there in the first place?

Comment on Travel Tales by Zane Ferry

Zane Ferry — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 07:21:46 +0000

What about the extra pretzels, Mark? The complimentary beer and wine?

Comment on Year of the Dragon by Zane Ferry

Zane Ferry — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 21:59:43 +0000

????!
Let me add my voice to yours, Mark. Nice how you timed the appearance of your message. It’s also a fitting reminder to most of us in the West (who are oblivious to the lunar year) that China and its culture deserves a more prominent place in our daily thinking. It’s hard to over estimate the value of the opportunities, lessons, and richness there. -z

Comment on Evidence of Success with MRP? by Heikki Aalto

Heikki Aalto — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 09:48:37 +0000

I agree what has been said in this forum about ERP limitations when it comes to finite scheduling. Regarding the way one can implement a good planning and scheduling tool APS/FCS) depends on what is the level of “intelligence” required to handle the actual scheduling task. If we leave decision making to a production planner and provide him/her a tool which speeds up planning and eliminates human errors that should be enough. For instance if you are satisfied with a tool that automates the scheduling task of a production chain backwards and forwards and takes care of placing an order to a gantt chart automatically based on the promised delivery date why should seek for an expensive optimization software? In most cases planners do not want tools which make them useless.

Comment on Steve Spear on Creative Experimentation by gary

gary — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 18:50:19 +0000

thanks for posting this. Someday I will find out how to get connected to all of the cool webinars and other content like this.

Comment on Flow Assembly of a 30 Story Building by Mark Rosenthal

Mark Rosenthal — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 18:30:41 +0000

Mark -
Thank you for the correction. I am certainly not an expert in construction.
I am fully aware that this is not a unique example. However there are some excellent examples of design for flow that can be applied here. Volvo, for example, uses a modular design in their trucks which lets them quickly assemble a high-variety products. By highlighting it in something that my readers may be less familiar with, I wanted to demonstrate the thinking behind it.

Comment on Flow Assembly of a 30 Story Building by Mark Gilligan

Mark Gilligan — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 17:35:11 +0000

The only thing that is “unique” is the degree of modularity in the structural frame. Building Contractors regularly are doing finish work on lower levels of high rise buildings before the upper levels of structure are completed.

One concern about highly modular construction is that more attention needs to be paid on how to tie the modules together so that it does not come apart in an earthquake.

The concern about long term stablity because the building supposedly did not have time to settle during construction is misplaced and reflects a lack of understanding about structural engineering.

Make yourself aware of what the members of the Lean Construction Institute are doing. They are regularly applying many of these concepts in building projects.
http://www.leanconstruction.org