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 February includes:
The featured article is from regular contributor and Shingo Prize winner Bob Emiliani and is titled The Equally Important "Respect for People" Principle. The following is a brief excerpt, and you can read the entire article here.
Lean community leaders have recently made two huge changes in how they present Lean. The first change is Lean as a management system rather than “Lean manufacturing.” Second, they are finally taking note of the long-established “Respect for People” principle. Why now? In part because there have been so few successful Lean transformations over the last 20 years. Another reason is that most other aspects of the Lean management system have been studied in detail, so this is the next territory to explore. This batch-and-queue non-integrative approach has severely increased the lead-time needed to properly educate people about Lean management – particularly the “Respect for People” principle.
The Featured Blog Post is our recent piece titled Excessive or Progressive CEO Pay. The following is a brief excerpt, and you can read the entire post here.
American Express is going to try something a bit different. They are oft-regarded as an exceptionally well-managed company, but even in that context the proposed comp package for CEO Ken Chenault looks a little monstrous. On Nov. 30 the board gave Chenault options on 1,375,000 shares and announced its intention to give him the same number again on Jan. 31. If it all happens as planned, that will be 2,750,000 shares – a mega-grant by any definition.
The featured book this month is Practical Lean Leadership by Bob Emiliani. The following is a brief summary, click here for more information.
This is the first book to present Lean leadership in ways that are specific and actionable for executives to apply at work every day. It links Lean principles and tools directly to leadership beliefs, behaviors, and competencies in new and innovative ways that connect to workplace and marketplace realities. It goes far beyond the common understanding of leadership and the training methods used for leadership development.
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.
The Superfactory 20 list of companies with strong lean manufacturing programs was released, and the 
stock performance of each of those companies is being tracked individually and as a group versus the S&P500. Last year these companies outperformed the S&P500 by 20%… this year it isn’t quite as hot. Yet. Check out the list and performance, updated hourly.
For all you LinkedIn junkies, we have created a LinkedIn group for Superfactory. Join the group to
network with other Superfactory enthusiasts and to show our logo on your profile. If you haven’t explored LinkedIn, check it out to see why over 17 million professionals use it for networking.
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.