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Gemba Academy Turns Two!

February 28, 2011 By 1 Comment

In March of 2009 I, along with Jon Miller and Kevin Meyer, launched Gemba Academy.

We had no idea what to expect when the site first went live… initially we offered one 12 video course and had zero, as in 0, customers.

Fast Forward Two Years

Fast forward two years. We now offer more than 145 online and DVD based lean training videos covering multiple lean topics such as 5S, the 7 Wastes, Kaizen Events, Standard Work, Leader Standard Work, Value Stream Mapping, Quick Changeover, Practical Problem Solving, and much more.

Add the fact that more than 1,000 companies around the world now use Gemba Academy to train individuals and groups and it’s safe to say we’ve grown much faster than we could have ever imagined.

Free 19 DVD Promotion

So, to celebrate our two year anniversary we’ve decided to bring back the most popular promotion we’ve ever done at Gemba Academy.

Specifically, between March 1 and March 31 anyone that purchases a 6-month or 1-year online subscription to the Complete Lean Package will receive the Complete Lean Package set of 19 DVDs absolutely free.

This promotion will remain open to the first 500 customers or until March 31, whichever comes first.

All the details can be found here.

Thank You LSS Academy Readers

Finally, I want to personally thank the many LSS Academy readers who have already joined the Gemba Academy family. I am truly honored and humbled to have earned your trust and business.

Filed Under: Featured, Lean

Are Dishwashers Lean?

February 21, 2011 By 43 Comments

Doug, a reader of LSS Academy and Gemba Academy subscriber sent me the following question.   I have some opinions but am very interested in what you all think of Doug’s question. 

Here is what Doug sent.

Hi Ron,

Does a dishwasher really save time vs hand washing and drying dishes right away?

It would seem there is quite a lot more waste such as motion and transportation (running water over plates that you know the dishwasher will have trouble getting off, putting dishes in dishwasher, adjusting other dishes in order to get the best fit before running it, taking it out when complete, checking to make sure they are completely dry and are clean), defects (dishes not dry or still dirty), waiting (the dish or utensil you need is still in the dishwasher since the dishwasher is not full enough to run).

My wife and I discuss this at times and wonder if we are kidding ourselves because in the long run we are wasting more time with the above and a dishwasher creates inventory to cover up process problems (handwashing and drying dishes). When I think of the 3 elements that make up value-added work, I think of the following with regards to a dishwasher:

  1. Is the customer willing to pay for it? Yes, we are willing to pay for clean dishes but not for the waiting time until they are washed
  2. Does it change in form, function, fit? Not if the dishwasher is not full.
  3. Does it get done right the first time? Only if they are all dry and completely clean.

I know this might be an off the wall question, but I believe we often kid ourselves in what we do in our lives that we are saving time, etc. Lean is more than a business initiative.

Doug

So what do you think? Are dishwashers lean?  If not, are you willing to remove yours from your kitchen?

Filed Under: Featured, Lean

Stealing Monkeys

February 16, 2011 By 8 Comments

I love learning new things… as such yesterday was a very good day as I had the privilege to hear Mike Wroblewski deliver training on Leader Standard Work, TPM, and Time Observation.

For those interested, all of this live training was video taped and will be made available to Gemba Academy members.

During the Leader Standard Work training session Mike was describing how we as leaders shouldn’t solve our employee’s problems for them.

You see, as leaders, many times we want to simply “fix” things. So, when an employee is struggling it’s only natural for us to want to fix it for them.

In other words, we want to remove the monkey from their back.

The problem is by simply removing  the monkey from their back the employee learns nothing which is one of the most important jobs of a leader – to teach.

So, the morale of the story is this… when someone comes to you with a problem don’t steal their monkey.

Do you agree?

Filed Under: Featured, Leadership

This is the worst it’s ever been

February 10, 2011 By 10 Comments

I’m typically a glass is half full kind of guy.

But I also believe the phrase ”This is the worst it’s ever been…” just may be the mission statement successful people and organizations live by. 

You see, while it’s good to celebrate that successful kaizen event, or securing that huge order, or even winning the championship game… individuals and organization’s that hope to succeed over the long term must never grow satisfied with where they’re at.

Instead, they must constantly realize that this is indeed the worst it’s ever been.  As such, there’s only one solution… make it better.

Do you agree?

Filed Under: Featured, Leadership, Lean, Six Sigma

Free TPM & Leader Standard Work Training in the DFW Area

February 8, 2011 By Leave a Comment

If you live in the DFW area, or will be in the area, you are cordially invited to attend Gemba Academy’s first ever “live” training seminar.

Who and What

Mike Wroblewski, of Gemba Consulting North America, will deliver free, as in no cost, training on the following topics:

  • Leader Standard Work: How leaders can, and should, use the proven principles of Standard Work to guide their daily work.
  • Total Productive Maintenance (TPM): You will learn what TPM is and how it applies to anyone who cannot afford unplanned equipment downtime. 

Where & When

The training will be held at the Peterbilt Manufacturing Facility located in Denton, TX this coming Tuesday, February 15.

We’ll start the training at 8:00 AM and end no later than 1:00 PM. Snacks and lunch will be served.

Why is it Free?

Nothing in life is ever free… so what’s the catch?

Well, the catch is we’ll be video taping these training sessions for inclusion into Gemba Academy’s growing library of online and DVD based lean training.

But, don’t worry… our camera crew will be focused on Mike so you don’t have to be on camera unless you want to of course!

How to Register

Space is definitely limited so if you’re interested in attending this free training please contact us immediately by email or by calling 866-599-1398.

Once we reach capacity we’ll have to turn requests away so if you are interested please contact us as soon as possible.

Filed Under: Education, Featured, Lean

Does Master Yoda Wisdom Contradict Lean Thinking?

February 4, 2011 By 14 Comments

In this famous Star Wars Dagobah swamp scene Master Yoda challenges Luke to raise his sunken starfighter with the power of his mind.

I’ll Try

Luke replies like many of us might when he says, “I’ll try.”

Master Yoda then scolds him and says, “No! Do, or do not. There is no try!”

Contradicts Lean Thinking?

What’s interesting about this scene how it seems to potentially contradict the lean thinking idea of “trystorming.”

Trystrorming occurs when lean manufacturing and six sigma practitioners try ideas out to see if they work instead of sitting on their hands wondering.

If the idea works, great. If the idea doesn’t work, that’s fine too as we will have learned something new.

What do you think?

What do you think of this situation?

Is trystorming a good idea or a bad idea? And if it is a good idea, are we lean thinkers in conflict with the great Master Yoda?

Or perhaps the “trying” Luke refers to is not the same type of “trying” lean thinkers practice?

What do you think?

Filed Under: Featured, Leadership, Lean

LSS Academy Enhancements

February 2, 2011 By 2 Comments

As regular readers of LSS Academy have no doubt noticed, we’ve made some changes to the website over the past few weeks.

Under the Hood

The look and feel of the site is not much different but there has been a complete overhaul “under the hood” to make things run more efficiently.

Some of the improvements include a new archives page making it easier to find old articles. 

We also created a new video page making it easier to view all of Gemba Academy’s free YouTube lean training videos.  

The other enhancements are mostly related to “Search Engine Optimization” stuff which, while very important, isn’t too exciting to write about so we’ll leave it at that!

Lean PowerPoint Training Presentations

Next, we’ve also added some new lean focused products to the website including 112 Lean PowerPoint Training Presentations. 

These PowerPoint Presentations, which can either be purchased as a bundle or as separate packages, cover multiple aspects of the lean enterprise including:

All the Presentations are in native PowerPoint making it possible for you to customize them as you see fit, including adding your own logo, background, and even images.

Lean Enterprise Strategy Kit

In addition to the PowerPoint presentations you can also purchase a Lean Enterprise Strategy Kit that combines the best aspects of Hoshin Kanri (Policy Deployment) with traditional strategic planning methods.

Additional Products

Finally, we’ve also made it possible to purchase Gemba Academy Lean Training DVDs directly from LSS Academy in addition to the LSS Academy Guide to Lean Manufacturing Audio Book where the first chapter is now available for free download.

What Ideas Do You Have?

If you have any ideas or suggestions for how we can improve LSS Academy, please do let us know. 

And, as always, we sincerely thank you for your active and generous support of LSS Academy.

Filed Under: Blogging, Featured, Leadership, Lean