Each month new articles, book reviews, and other content are added to the Superfactory website. The new content is featured in the free monthly e-newsletter which goes out to 50,000 subscribers worldwide, and we will also post a monthly heads-up on this blog.
New content in November includes:
The featured article is from our long time friend and one of the founders of the lean movement in North America, Norman Bodek, and is titled A Japanese Study Mission. The following is a brief excerpt, and you can read the entire article here.
This past September 1st, I led a study Mission to Japan, something I used to do on a regular basis. From these study missions, miraculously, I found Dr. Shigeo Shingo, Taiichi Ohno, Dr. Ryuji Fukuda, Dr. Yoji Akao, and many many more management geniuses. I could hardly absorb what they had to offer. But somehow, I was able to recognize their genius and to produce their books in English. From this past trip, I came back with “tons” of new information. I am overwhelmed and trying to find a way to disseminate all the things I found. I am grateful that Kevin Meyer at superfactory.com asked me to write about my learning and experiences from the study mission. I found probably the best Toyota training course available in English and I think I also found some of the real secrets that Toyota uses to motivate their employees, definitely lacking with companies in the West.
The Featured Blog Post is our recent piece titled The False God Opens a New Front. The following is a brief excerpt, and you can read the entire post here.
Well after many months of retreat, and even battling among themselves, the false gods have opened a new front: document and compliance management software. Many of us have worked in companies with huge documentation and compliance management infrastructures. Whole departments of people doing nothing except processing SOP changes, fixing typos, and revving drawings. Then those documents need to be printed, distributed, and especially in regulated environments the down-rev documents must be collected and destroyed. Some larger companies should probably invest in forests in order to maintain a stable supply of paper. How many times have we had to wait weeks for something like "watter bath" to be corrected to "water bath" and how much time, effort, and reduction of value to the customer was involved?
The featured book this month is Kaizen and the Art of Creative Thinking by Shigeo Shingo. The following is a brief summary, click here for more Information and to download Chapter 5, From Ideas to Reality.
Never before published in English, this book provides the single most important tool for
initiating a Lean transformation, Dr. Shingo’s own Scientific Thinking Mechanism. For the first time ever, you have access to Toyota’s secret model of success; learn how to dissect the status quo so you can address the actual problem, generate innovative ideas in group environments, and learn the best way to implement solutions. This book unlocks the secret to managing creative thinking
We continually update the other major sections of the website, including:
- Events Calendar: a listing of lean excellence seminars, workshops, training, and conferences worldwide
- Topic Information: Summaries and resources on over 40 enterprise excellence topics.
- History of Excellence: A growing timeline of notable events that helped shape current-day enterprise excellence
- Online E-Learning Center: Fourteen interactive online presentations on the core concepts of lean manufacturing.
- PowerPoint Presentations: Over 50 downloadable PowerPoint presentations on lean manufacturing, quality, enterprise, and safety concepts.
- Factory Toolbox: Almost 300 downloadable forms, procedure templates, assessments, and tools to help you not reinvent the wheel.
- Tools and Assessments: Downloadable assessment tools.
- Virtual Factory Tours: Web and streaming video tours of over 100 factories.
We are always looking for new articles and other content. Contact us via the Superfactory website if you would like to contribute to our knowledge base.