Lean Six Sigma Academy

Preparing Coffee

Ron Pereira — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 13:56:17 +0000

Last night, before I went to bed, I set my coffee maker up to start brewing at 5:45 AM. I also placed my coffee mug and a spoon next to the coffee maker so I wouldn’t have to fumble about in the morning.

This morning, around 6:05 AM (I hit snooze a few times), I went to the coffee maker and poured a cup of steamy hot coffee. Worked like a charm!

As I went about the rest of my morning I thought about the simple aspect of preparing coffee like this and realized how SMED like this simple, everyday, action is.

To learn more about SMED please register for a free Gemba Academy account and watch our SMED Overview video.

Everyday Lean

You see, the lean thinker inside me is always on the look out for everyday lean concepts like this. I could have waited until this morning to prepare the coffee maker. But doing so would have wasted valuable time I could have used to write this article, answer customer emails, etc.

Additionally, had I waited until this morning to prepare my coffee maker there is a VERY good chance my jostling about in the kitchen would have woken up one of my children who would have then climbed into bed with my wife who would have woken up early. Not good. See where I’m going?

What do you think?

So, what do you think of this process? Do you agree that preparing coffee makers the night before is lean and SMED like? Or do you think I’ve definitely consumed too much lean koolaid over the years? Be honest. I can handle it.

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A day that changed my life forever

Ron Pereira — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 18:43:33 +0000

It was early evening – around 7:00 PM.

I was leaving the plant I was visiting that week and noticed a second shift operator preparing to start his day.

I went over to say hi to the young man. He was a nice fellow… he had one of those contagious smiles on his face and seemed very happy to be at work which I found refreshing.

I asked him what his plans were for the evening and he explained the tasks he had before him in a cheerful and extremely positive manner.

I said good-bye to young man and went about my way.

A day I will never forget

The next morning, as we pulled up to the plant, I could tell something was wrong. Very wrong.

There were police all around and TV camera trucks everywhere.

As it turned out the worst possible thing that could ever happen in a manufacturing organization occured.

You see, the young man I spoke to just a few hours before had been killed as a result of a workplace accident.

It’s not my intention to get into the details of what happened or what could have prevented the accident.

Instead, the reason I am sharing this sobering story – one that has forever changed the way I look at workplace safety – is to drive home the fact that nothing, and I do mean nothing, is more important than ensuring all employees go home safely at the end of their work day/evening.

5S or 6S?

A few weeks ago I asked if we should call it 5S or 6S… many of you left excellent comments.

And while I am actually indifferent as to whether an extra S should be added to 5S… one thing I am not indifferent to is how important safety actually is.

So, the next time someone rolls their eyes and explains why the “safety police” are so annoying… I’d encourage you to remind them of how awful it would be to have to call someone’s significant other in order to explain why their loved one is never coming home.

What about you?

What events have shaped you as it relates to workplace safety? I pray nothing terrible like my story.

The Don’t Quit Poem

Ron Pereira — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 04:21:36 +0000

I absolutely love this. Enjoy. Oh, and if you’re reading this on an iPhone or via RSS reader/email you’ll likely need to click through to the site.

Who’s Winning?

Ron Pereira — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 14:48:08 +0000

I recently had the pleasure of having lunch with Rick Foreman. Rick frequently comments on this blog and many others.

Rick is also extremely passionate about lean… he’s the sort of fellow that gets you all pumped up and ready to make things better after a few minutes of conversation!

Anyhow, during our lunch conversation Rick shared some examples of how he goes about making lean “real” to the people he works with.

In other words, instead of blabbering away like he’s reading a text book he works hard to find ways to relate lean to things folks are familiar with.

Meeting Resistance

The example he shared with me was related to visual management. Specifically, Rick was discussing the importance of the production board where things such as plan versus actual output are documented.

As he explained it, initially, the operators weren’t thrilled with the idea of writing down what they produced on a daily basis. They didn’t see the point.

But rather than pummel them with lean philosophy and words they’d never heard before Rick went back to his desk, thought about the situation, and then got an idea.

Who’s Winning?

His idea was to find an image of a basketball scoreboard as shown above. After printing this image out Rick went back to the gemba, or the place the work is done, and showed the same operator the picture.

Rick then asked the person a simple question, “Who’s winning the game – the home team or the visiting team?” The operator gave him a funny look and replied the home team was winning.

Rick asked the operator if he was sure. The operator insisted the home team was winning.

Rick asked, “How do you know?”

The operator replied, “Because it clearly says they are winning 113 to 99 on the scoreboard.”

Rick then asked the operator how important it is for basketball teams to know the score. The operator replied, “Very important as it will dictate the strategy used during the game.”

Are We Winning?

Rick then asked the operator, “Are we (their company) winning or losing?”

The operator grinned and finally began to see Rick’s point of why keeping track of plan versus actual is so very important.

The thing about this story that truly inspires me is how Rick works so hard to reach his co-workers on a personal level rather than pummeling them as if he were some outsider with no interest in them or the company.

Well done, Rick. Well done.

What do you think?

What do you think of Rick’s approach? Do you do something similar?

A Major Announcement That You’ve Made Possible

Ron Pereira — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 16:50:45 +0000

My life changed – more than I could have ever imagined – Sunday evening, January 14, 2007.

You see it was on this day that I wrote my first blog article. I remember wondering if anyone would read it?

I actually just re-read that first article and had to chuckle… I mean it wasn’t the most insightful thing I’ve ever written… but, hey, it was a start!

A Brand New World

Well, as it turns out starting LSS Academy opened up a brand new world to me.

First, it’s allowed me to share my thoughts with thousands upon thousands of valued readers across the world. We now have more 9,500 subscribers to LSS Academy. Wow! That, in itself, is truly mind blowing.

Second, I have personally met many new lean and six sigma acquaintances… many of whom I now consider good friends.

Becoming an Entrepreneur

And, third, LSS Academy opened the doors to entrepreneurship in a big way as it connected me with my valued Gemba Academy business partners – Jon Miller of Gemba Panta Rei and Kevin Meyer of Evolving Excellence.

Those following this blog know that we started Gemba Academy in March of 2009. We’ve managed to steadily grow the business by reaching a wide variety of customers ranging from individuals looking to learn more about lean manufacturing to Fortune 100 companies using Gemba Academy to train thousands of employees across multiple facilities.

My Big Announcement

With this all said I’m extremely excited to announce that I’ve now wrapped up all my prior professional obligations. As such, I’m now able to focus 100% of my efforts on expanding both LSS Academy and Gemba Academy.

This means I’ll be far more consistent posting LSS Academy articles. My plan is to release new articles at least 3 times a week while also introducing additional LSS Academy authors in the future.

This also means Gemba Academy courses will be developed at a much faster pace while also allowing me and the Gemba Academy team to interact far more effectively with existing and future customers.

So, since this journey all started here on LSS Academy, I wanted you to be the first to know the news.

LSS Academy Promotion (25% off any Gemba Academy purchase)

Next, and I hate it that this is going to sound like a sales pitch, because everything I’ve written above has indeed come from the bottom of my heart…

But as small token of my deep appreciation for all LSS Academy readers, I want to extend a LSS Academy ONLY promotion for the month of September.

Simply enter the coupon code LSS as shown to the left (click to enlarge) at the checkout process for any Gemba Academy online or DVD product and you’ll receive a 25% discount. This promotion will run through September 30, 2010.

Thank You

Finally, I want to close with one last thank you. I would have never been able to write this article without your active support of both LSS Academy and Gemba Academy.

How I Sustain a Clean PC Desktop

Ron Pereira — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 12:53:19 +0000

Have you ever heard the stories of how the air conditioning repair man often has air conditioning problems at home?

Or how the plumber’s wife is constantly after him to fix the leak under the sink?

Well, I can relate.

You see, if I am being honest, I must confess to having many personal weaknesses as it relates to living the lean thinking life.

Messy Computer Desktop

One of the most annoying weaknesses I have long battled is a messy computer desktop. You see, I will go through phases were I keep my computer’s desktop neat and tidy… then, in all my daily haste, I will save files to it… pictures I have “snagged” from the Internet to it, etc. Then, eventually, I have a mess. A big mess!

Junk Files Killing Me!

Well, I finally decided that enough was enough. And after doing some hansei I realized that the primary root cause to my messy desktop problem was the junk file.

You see, many times I will download files to read once or look at once. They aren’t worth filing into a folder… so I just drop them on my desktop. These files are essentially junk.

The “delete” folder

So, to counter this problem I created a new folder called “delete” and placed it on my desktop. Now, when I need to save a junk file or picture I save it to the delete folder. Click the image above to see a larger view of the delete folder in action.

Then, at the end of the week I open the delete folder and clean it out.

Now, I thought about saving these junk files directly to the Trash folder… but decided to create a bit of a “grave yard” before completely discarding the file.

So far it’s working like a dream. I had a few hiccups the first few days… but it’s now becoming habit and I’m confident my desktop will remain clutter free for years to come.

What about you?

What do you think of this solution? Do you do something similar? If not, how do you keep your computer desktop clutter free?

Lean Blogging – There’s an app for that!

Ron Pereira — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 13:20:36 +0000

If you are an iPhone user you’re going to want to download the 100% free Lean Daily app.

It’s extremely cool as it consolidates the latest posts from your favorite lean blogs into one convenient app.

Here is a summary of the blogs and free lean videos you’ll be able to access with the Lean Daily app.

Jamie Flinchbaugh (Lean Learning Center)
Matt May (In Pursuit of Elegance)
Kevin Meyer (Evolving Excellence)
Jon Miller (Gemba Panta Rei)
John Hunter (Curious Cat)
Ron Pereria (LSS Academy)
Mark Graban (Lean Blog)

You’ll also be able to watch all the free Gemba Academy lean training videos we release with this app.

My good friend, and fellow Texas lean blogger, Mark Graban was the brains behind this project… so extra kudos to him for all his hard work.

Your Valuable Feedback is Needed

Ron Pereira — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 14:19:59 +0000

Gemba Academy is looking to possibly implement a Learning Management System (LMS) that would allow our customers to track what videos have been watched as well as what quizzes have been taken.

So, to help us understand how value added a LMS is to our current and future customers we’ve created a short 4 question survey that will take less than 45 seconds to complete.

15% Off Discount Code

And as our way of thanking you for your feedback a special coupon code will be displayed at the end of the survey.

This coupon code, when entered during the checkout process, will give you 15% off any purchase… no matter if you buy a single online course for $149 or go for the Wamma Jamma 1 Year Premium Package for $995.

Thanks in advance for your valuable input. Here’s the link to the survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/JX6QGYN.

Whom shall we serve?

Ron Pereira — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 16:06:56 +0000

Lot, a reader of LSS Academy, recently sent the following question in.

“We are actually starting lean six sigma in our bank and I am in charge of the central processing unit of the HO. I am getting a bit confused as to who I should satisfy first and foremost. Should it be the client’s desire or my company’s desire to improve cost and efficiency?”

First, I am always excited to hear of non manufacturing organization’s taking the leap, so to speak, into the world of continuous improvement.

Whom shall we serve?

Now then… whom shall we serve? The customer or the company? The immediate response most probably expect me to say is, “Um, the customer.” I mean the customer pays the bills, right?

And, in the purest sense, I stand by this advice of serving the customer first and foremost.

Of course, this is easy for me to write even though most reading this also have a boss to please, objectives to meet, and a family to feed. Right or wrong this is reality and those lost in text book theory need to crawl out from under their rock.

Going blind

Being blunt, I get annoyed with many of my fellow lean thinking pals who are so far removed from the “real world” that they forget life is more than PowerPoint training slides and 3 month consulting deals.

My advice

All this said… my recommendation is to – of course – ensure everything we do improves the customer experience. Doing anything else will do nothing but harm.

But we must also remember most Continuous Improvement practitioners also need to help their company prosper… even survive in some business climates. This means cutting costs, reducing defects, etc. Of course, one can argue this in turn helps the customer, right?

So, in the end, my advice is to never forget about the customer, as they ultimately keep you employed.

But, at the same time we must also ensure our efforts are also contributing to the long term success of the organization.

Both should work in harmony when done correctly.

What do you think?

This is my advice for Lot. Do you agree with it? If so, why? If not, why?

5S or 6S… which should it be?

Ron Pereira — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 13:53:10 +0000

I was recently asked the following question by a continuous improvement practitioner:

“Should we make safety the 6th S, thus calling it 6S instead of 5S?”

I offered my two cents but rather than sharing my thoughts at this time I am more interested in what you think.

So, two questions.

Does your company call it 5S or 6S?
Do you think adding safety to the list makes sense? If so, why? If not, why?