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Friday, September 28, 2012

It Can Be Simple

Sometimes it's a simple idea that bring people together.


Thursday, September 27, 2012

Perfection is a Moving Target


From a two person idea to a multi-million dollar corporation.
You would think that Fab.com could consider themselves a success already. But as you know perfection is not a final destination that you stay at once you get there. Rather, it is a moving target that fuels you to continuously improve your business to find more efficient, faster, easier ways to serve your customers.

Jason Goldberg, CEO of Fab.com says, "We have a saying at Fab: We focus more on why we suck than why we're doing great. The goal of [our weekly] meetings is to find out what is working and what's not in each department." It is this idea of relentlessly conducting a health check of your organization that will sustain continued growth.

Be aware that simply having a weekly meeting to talk about what can be improved is not enough. Talk to your people, talk to people from all departments to stimulate solution ideas for the issues that matter and have the greatest strategic impact on your business. Then work on it together. Empower your people to share their solution ideas.

Credit: Inc. Magazine

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

7 Eleven Needs Your Help

I saw this today at the entrance way of 7 Eleven's Thurlow at Alberni location.

If customer service is our aim, how would you improve this signage? Tell us using the comments tool below or on Facebook.

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Greenbelt Operations in Vancouver - Fall 2012 Kick-off

18 Operations Greenbelts began their Lean journey today in Vancouver.  
Senior Lean coach, Bob posed a challenge to the class who were as yet still, strangers.
Build a structure out of a limited number of plastic straws and tape, that will keep a raw egg intact after being dropped from various heights. In the end, one team's little egg survived, congratulations!







By the end of the day, the class had bonded and this once group of strangers left as comrades. Comrades who are pumped and ready to apply their new Lean skills to solve shop floor challenges during this week's 5S Kaizen! Hai-ya!




Friday, September 21, 2012

Lean Principles for Cooking: Peeling Garlic

A fast way to peel garlic.


Now that your garlic is peeled, what's a fast way to chop it you ask? Food processor :)

Credit: Saveur.com
Video from Youtube

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Blackbelts Lean the Silver Screen

Regularly improving processes requires you to tap into your creativity.
Each module one Lean Sensei Blackbelt has only 5 days to develop an aesthetically pleasing video recap of the module. This exercise requires the Blackbelt movie director put together an informative and meaningful presentation within strict time constraints.

Check the video for module 1 from 2012 Fall's Blackbelt class.


Blackbelt Module 1 from Lean Sensei on Vimeo.

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Greenbelt Operations Winnipeg Fall Kick-off

15 Greenbelt Operations participants just started their lean journey today in Winnipeg. This module, they will learn 5S and implemented hands-on kaizen at local manufacturing company. We're thrilled to be starting another season and training the next set of Lean Champions.



Robot in Japan Cooking Okonomiyaki

Check out this video at a Food and Robot show of a robot cooking Okonomiyaki (savoury Japanese pancake). This robot can also multi-task, taking topping requests while cooking.

Blackbelt's and execs see Honda's robot on the Japan Lean Tour. You can email Jessie at event@leansensei.com if you would like more info. Credit: Diginfo TV Video from Youtube

Monday, September 17, 2012

Timmy's Goes Lean!



Our beloved Tim Bits producers are going lean!

From the warehouse to product development to supply chain, for about the past four years Tim Hortons has been examining their processes to identify where waste can be removed.

So far there are 25 people in the organization dedicated to lean who make up Tim Horton's Continuous Improvement department. The Director of Continuous Improvement, Callie Woodward, walks the gemba daily to see how smoothly the floor is running and to gather insight on processes from the people closest to the problem and therefore closest to the solution.

Quote from Callie:

It’s a very competitive world. What you do when you have continuous improvement is you look inside your organization … and you get more from the same – the same dollars, the same people – by removing waste. I see it as a big competitive advantage.


It's encouraging to hear about other organizations discovering the value of being a lean organization, we hope this article motivated you too.

Credit: Globe and Mail

Friday, September 14, 2012

Blackbelts presenting lean assessment

Today is a big day for BBs as they present their findings to Alpha as part of their BB lean assessment project.

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Blackbelts busy this week

...working on advanced lean strategy at one of our most successful clients Alpha technology.

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Blackbelts learning a lot on 2nd day

and enjoying a great Japanese meal too.

Blackbelts go boating

What a beautiful day for some of the Blackbelts to enjoy boating around Vancouver Harbour.

Monday, September 10, 2012

More photos from the Blackbelt event

Blackbelt Fall 2012 kicks off!

We are extremely excited to have a new group of Blackbelt candidates and executive participants joining us in Vancouver today. Good luck to all who are now embarking on an intense journey of continuous improvement!



Friday, September 7, 2012

Lean Sink

This sink sends used water straight to the drain. Save yourself some piping.
The designer was inspired by nature, the waterfalls in Sweden.


Credit: Dornob

Thursday, September 6, 2012

LSI Summer Retreat

Every summer we go on a LSI summer retreat. This year the lovely Sunshine coast was the backdrop to teambuilding and bonding.

 Picturesque Sunshine Coast

Most of the gang and their families

Mysterious Crustacean 

Now, David's new friend

David in his element

A moving barge - Toyota's next export?

No trip is complete without shrimp trapping

"Hi"

Bob enjoying some prawn sashimi

 
Jenn with her venomous catch

Activities also included water sports!

Jessie enjoying the ride

Calm waters 

A group shot

And a silly one

Goodbye for now