Servicing SMEs Throughout Atlantic Canada
Many organizations operate well below their desired or theoretical capacity, often in the 60%-80% range. There can be several reasons for this, and it is critical to understand the root causes so you can release untapped potential. After conducting value stream mapping exercises, I always review the cycle time rate for each step in the…
When you have many things to improve in your products and services, it can be difficult to understand where to begin. Process Improvement is an ongoing effort to address issues, and helps you make sure that you’re working on the issues that will have the biggest impact to your customers. Furthermore, you can use Value…
Many manufacturing leaders acknowledge the need for productivity and efficiency improvements, but often don’t know where to start. Lean concepts are simple but navigating through the activities and tasks can be overwhelming. It’s important not get hung up on terminology, but rather focus on getting people involved and having an immediate impact on efficiency. In…
The proverb “Waste not want not” advises people not to waste anything, because they might need it in the future. In business we worry about wasting time and money because it goes right to the bottom line. Lean Leaders see waste as Enemy Number 1. They categorize waste into 7 or 8 types and then look at their operations with their “waste glasses” on. They look…
The shift in thinking required for organizations to become Lean or continuous improvement focused will probably take longer than you wish. Improvement efforts can lose momentum and sometimes aren’t sustained. The patience and resilience of an organization’s leadership can have a huge influence on the performance results or gap. The gap, real or perceived, that…
In underperforming operations, managers know there are issues but they are too busy putting out fires to focus on fixing the problems. Band aid solutions are put into place while the root cause of the initial problem hasn’t been addressed. Firefighting is no way to run an effective organization. The best place to start addressing…
It’s well understood that growing your business is a key element to long term success. Organizations often use break-through technologies, acquisitions, and/or consolidation as primary growth strategies. Those options require lots of money and for many organizations that’s not feasible so they need a lower cost option. A continuous improvement approach to business growth is…