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The close of another year is a good time to look back and reflect. While 2021 has not had the drama and extremes experienced in 2020, I think it still qualifies as a roller coaster ride. The major business challenges experienced over the year include supply chain issues, inflation, labor shortages, and – oh yes … Read more
In last month’s blog I shared examples of the often-overlooked lean principle of Creativity Before Capital. The non-lean approach is to spend money – buy new equipment, hire more staff, or work overtime. The lean approach is to embrace the ingenuity of staff in using existing equipment and employees to meet customer needs. In this month’s … Read more
Most Lean Six Sigma practitioners focus their improvement efforts on applying tried and true lean tools to eliminate waste such as Work Simplification, Process Balancing, Mistake Proofing, Visual Management, and 5S. All of these tools can be very effective, and they certainly have their place. Yet the application of such tools is often done in … Read more
As we start the new year the global pandemic continues to claim lives at a terrible pace, with over 400,000 lost to COVID-19 in the US alone as of this writing. The good news: Multiple vaccines have been approved for use, and vaccinations began starting in December. One of those vaccines was jointly developed by … Read more
By tradition, we have reserved our December blog for a look back at the past year. And what a year 2020 has been, unlike any in my experience. From natural disasters – including record-setting hurricanes, storms, and wildfires – to civil unrest to a tough election season. Most challenging has been the impact of the … Read more
Author: Russ Aikman
Many of the core concepts of statistical and quality analysis were developed in the early to mid-20th century by a relatively small number of individuals including Ronald Fisher, Karl Pearson, Walter Shewhart, and W. Edwards Deming. Less well known is American mathematician and statistician John Wilder Tukey (1915-2000).
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Author: Russ Aikman
With COVID-19 still causing thousands of deaths worldwide (over half a million as of this writing) the search for a vaccine and a treatment continues at hospitals around the globe. A breakthrough on treatment of some patients was announced back on June 16th when doctors at Oxford University posted research on the steroid dexamethasone.
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Since the start of 2020 TMAC staff have been very busy with Lean Six Sigma work including four different classes (two GBs, one BB, and one MBB), coaching of over 40 belts, preparing for the Lean & Six Sigma World conference, not to mention leading kaizen events and mapping sessions for various customers. Our schedule … Read more
Author: Russ Aikman
In January TMAC hosted our 4th Annual Lean Six Sigma Deployment Champion Roundtable. The Roundtable is a 1.5 day mini-conference focused on the goals, challenges, activities, and successes of individuals leading a Lean Six Sigma Program. At this year’s Roundtable we had representatives of 13 different companies.
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This month marks the third year since the passing of my friend and TMAC colleague Robert ‘Randy’ Bohannon (1944-2017). Much more than just a coworker, Randy was also a mentor and guide, a voice of reason, a steadying influence, and a student of human nature. He passed away on January 5th of 2017 after a … Read more
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