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Russell Watkins
4 min read
The 7 Wastes: are defects problems or treasure?
The care of defects is a significant marker of whether your business believes in Built-in Quality
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Russell Watkins
3 min read
Reap the benefits of effective Gemba Walks (avoiding the fad trap)
As a lean community we’re at it again... ...the lazy business of reducing a very useful habit into a stand-alone tool to package up and...
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Russell Watkins
4 min read
Effective Gemba Walks - A key skill for Team Leaders
Effective Gemba Walks: A key skill for Team Leaders
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Russell Watkins
7 min read
The 7 step method for Practical Problem Solving skills & the 10 most common mistakes to avoid
Practical Problem Solving models are often shared online BUT the pitfalls are rarely well explained. In this blog we’ll be drawing on our
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Russell Watkins
9 min read
How to implement 5s in your factory (with examples)
5S ACTIVITY 1.Sort 2.Straighten 3.Shine 4.Standardise 5.Sustain In this blog we cover: What is 5 s Examples of 5s before and after Why...
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Russell Watkins
4 min read
Reducing Manufacturing Costs - Where to look?
Reduce Material Costs or Reduce Labour Costs? Manufacturing cost reduction is at the centre of lean thinking. It's by no means the whole...
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Russell Watkins
5 min read
Creating Standard Work - the tips you don't want to miss
The ultimate guide to creating strong Standard work, templates, meanings and the typical pitfalls to avoid
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Russell Watkins
5 min read
Safety in SQDCP - stop fooling yourself that you behave safely in factories, you don't!
Almost all lean-minded people preach Safety first, Quality second. The same group of people routinely demonstrate dubious safety behaviour
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Russell Watkins
7 min read
Hoshin Kanri: How to get your manufacturing team aligned around your lean Strategy Deployment
With Hoshin Kanri, less is more..."Hoshin is the discipline to de-select". The aim of this blog is to show you how less can be more.
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Russell Watkins
4 min read
How to hone your Problem Solving Method through watching movies
Practical Problem Solving in movies. 4 types of problems and real examples from Matt Damon's The Martian
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Russell Watkins
7 min read
Discovering kaizen examples and lean thinking in elite pro sports
Investigate examples of elite sports embracing Kaizen (aka Continuous Improvement) thinking
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Russell Watkins
3 min read
Does Lean work outside of manufacturing?
Lean thinking applies anywhere there's value to be delivered, to a customer through a process
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Russell Watkins
7 min read
Should we embrace Japanese Lean Words in Manufacturing?
10 of the words that have been most useful in guiding Sempai's lean work, from working with Japanese manufacturers, especially Toyota Group
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Russell Watkins
3 min read
80/20 Pareto rule in manufacturing – A key skill for Team Leaders
80/20 rule in manufacturing – A lean skill for Team Leaders
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Russell Watkins
5 min read
What is Lean Manufacturing?
It's helpful to understand what Lean Manufacturing is. However, Defining lean is useful, lean definitions are useless.
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Russell Watkins
3 min read
'Change Point Management' - A key skill for Team Leaders
Manufacturing Team Leaders who understand and deal with Change Points have far less problems to deal with.
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Russell Watkins
3 min read
An effective start-of-shift brief in manufacturing – A key skill for Team Leaders
The first hour of any shift is the golden hour. A good Team Brief often leads to a good shift.
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Russell Watkins
3 min read
Toyota's thinking around Digital Manufacturing
Digital Manufacturing / Industry 4.0 is about more than just sensors, data, things and machines. People are at the centre of it.
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Russell Watkins
3 min read
Lean transformation starts with the ultimate Lean Scorecard
We’d invite any manufacturers out there to complete the lean scorecard. simply considering the questions will challenge you and give insight
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Russell Watkins
4 min read
Digital Manufacturing: 6 ways to build strong bonds between Technology Providers & Manufacturers
Well designed experiments with Industry4.0 solutions have the ability to generate significant value, but the learning curve will be painful
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