Lean Six Sigma Bursts

In this episode, I share a short segment of a recorded presentation I gave to the Continuous Process Improvement Forum hosted within the National Industries of the Blind. They wanted to hear my perspective on AI, so I shared how I've utilized for my consulting work. NIB is a great organization whose mission is to enhance the opportunities for economic and personal independence of people who are bl...

In the 2024 Lean Global Connection virtual conference, our Lean Sustainability community shared some tips and methods to help apply Lean to Green initiatives. In my segment, I explained how Energy Treasure Hunts are a combination of gemba walks and kaizen events, with the goal to identify and reduce energy usage in a facility. This is a great approach that combines my passion for process improveme...

Energy Treasure Hunts can be described as a combination of gemba walks and kaizen events in Lean methodology, with the goal to identify and reduce energy usage in a facility. This is a great approach that combines my passion for process improvement and sustainability. I uploaded a recent webinar I did on Energy Treasure Hunts to AI (NotebookLM), and it generated a fake podcast episode between two...

In the last 2 episodes, I shared best practices in process improvement with students in the Florida Atlantic University (FAU) Executive MBA Program⁠ in Boca Raton, Florida. At the end of my talk, I discussed how Lean and Six Sigma can be used to improve society and the environment, which I call Lean Six Sigma for Good. I share some examples and discuss my own experiences, hand out copies of Volume...

This is the 2nd part of the list of best practices in process improvement I shared with students in the Florida Atlantic University (FAU) Executive MBA Program⁠ in Boca Raton, Florida last month. I compiled my top recommendations that they could take back to their company. Daily huddles to review performance and formalize communication Statistical thinking and analysis (separating noise from signa...

This is a list of best practices in process improvement I shared with students in the Florida Atlantic University (FAU) Executive MBA Program⁠ in Boca Raton, Florida last month. I compiled my top recommendations that they could take back to their company. Focused on building problem solving and waste identification skill set of lowest-level employee Psychological safety to discuss and solve proble...

This is the final part of the 2006 speech given by Rockwell Collins CEO, Clay Jones. I worked at Rockwell Collins from 1999-2017, and was heavily involved in the Lean Electronics program. In this clip, he answers audience questions: 1) How to immerse Lean into the culture? 2) How is he going after employee healthcare costs? (asked by George Koenigsaecker) 3) What are the biggest barriers he is con...

This is part 5 of the 2006 speech given by Rockwell Collins CEO, Clay Jones. I worked at Rockwell Collins from 1999-2017, and was heavily involved in the Lean Electronics program. In this clip, you'll hear him discuss the 5 lessons learned from the first 8 years of the Lean journey at Rockwell Collins (1998 to 2006). Senior Leadership alignment Managing change and resistance Course correction...

This is part 4 of the 2006 speech given by Rockwell Collins CEO, Clay Jones. I worked at Rockwell Collins from 1999-2017, and was heavily involved in the Lean Electronics program. In this clip, you'll hear him discuss how they expanded on the Core Process Optimization efforts to move to Lifecycle Value Stream Management. This allowed them to address the wastes in the handoffs between major pro...

This is part 3 of the 2006 speech given by Rockwell Collins CEO, Clay Jones. I worked at Rockwell Collins from 1999-2017, and was heavily involved in the Lean Electronics program. In this clip, you'll hear him discuss why they brought in some external consultants like John Shook and Denny Mead to try and figure out why all the improvements were not showing an impact on the bottom-line results...

This is part 2 of the 2006 speech given by Rockwell Collins CEO, Clay Jones. I worked at Rockwell Collins from 1999-2017, and was heavily involved in the Lean Electronics program. In this clip, you'll hear him discuss how they created and rolled out Lean Electronics program across both manufacturing and the office, and selected Decorah (Iowa) as the pilot site. In the first few years (1998-200...

For the next few podcasts, I'll be sharing clips from a 2006 speech given by Rockwell Collins CEO, Clay Jones. I worked at Rockwell Collins from 1999-2017, and was heavily involved in the Lean Electronics program. I credit Clay and the "Lean Electronics" program for giving me the skills and experience to make this my passion, allowing me to eventually open up my consulting business,...

In a recent class I taught, we were discussing the Project Charter, which asks you to fill in the baseline data for the metric you're trying to improve. I explain how you need to be persistent to find data, and not to start a project if you don't have any data, especially for a training class, or for your first project. I also answer a student question about how many samples you need for t...

In this podcast, I share a short clip from a recent training class, explaining the benefits of Lean Six Sigma Green Belt training to an organization, but more importantly, why it's important to the people attending the clas personally. If you're interested in taking a Lean, Green Belt or Black Belt course, consider these self-paced affordable courses from OpEx Training: https://www.leansix...

In episode 101, I share an interview clip from John Barnett, former Boeing Quality Manager, as he discusses the culture of quality that might explain the recent airline issues. He was found dead while he was giving a deposition about his former company, but I don't go into those details. I wanted to share my insights about a comment he made that inspection is non-value added, and how I think i...

In episode 100, I share a segment of a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt training course I conducted, where I went into details about the Fishbone Diagram and the 6 M's, and I thought you might find it useful. When you are trying to uncover possible causes of a problem, using the 6 M's with a Fishbone Diagram is a great way to enhance your team brainstorming, and methodically narrow down the cause...

In episode 97, we released an excerpt by Elisabeth Swan from "Lean Six Sigma for Good: Lessons from the Gemba (Volume 1)" This is an excerpt from the audiobook version Volume 1. I share the story of running a small nonprofit organization in Portland, called Recycling Advocates (now called Waste-free Advocates). We created a fundraiser conference called Zero Waste Conference, to promote t...

In this podcast, I expand on Podcast #96 , where I talked about the questions to consider in a training and coaching program. I go through 6 different case studies of customized training and coaching programs I've helped develop with clients to meet their specific needs, and how the payback on training is often as short as a few months! If you'd like to get a quote for some training option...

This is an excerpt from the audiobook version of "Lean Six Sigma for Good: Lessons from the Gemba (Volume 2)" Elisabeth Swan shares the story of volunteering with the Cape Cod Childcare Development nonprofit organization. She discusses getting a call from the CEO to help the organization utilize more Lean Six Sigma Green Belt skills and methods within the organization. In one of the exam...

When I talk to clients about training their team, that usually opens up a lot of questions in my mind that we'll need to discuss before I can give them a ballpark number quote. In this podcast, I run through the questions you need to consider in order to create an effective training program that will result in hands-on application and payback on the investment, while keeping the costs minimal....

To explain the concepts of hypothesis testing (null and alternative hypothesis statements), I use an example of James Bond. His famous line is "shaken, not stirred" when ordering a martini. In a hypothesis test, we would set the null (default) hypothesis to say that he cannot tell the difference. The alternative hypothesis would be proven if there was data showing he could tell the diffe...

Back in 2020, I created a course called "Home Efficiency Using Japanese Lean Productivity Techniques" and I'm offering a free coaching program this month to help you complete the course and get help implementing the concepts into your personal life. Are you interested? Contact me at brion@biz-pi.com Links ⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠ ⁠ ⁠ Home Efficiency Using Japanese Lean Productivity Techniques (Video...

In one of my recent Six Sigma classes, I provide a simplistic explanation of SPC and control charts, and why they are essential to detecting problems quickly in your processes. If you're interested in learning more about SPC, check out the link below. Links ⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠ SPC Module within Six Sigma Green Belt Training ⁠ Lean Six Sigma Project Coaching Program ⁠⁠ Need help in your organization? ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...

In one of my recent Lean classes, I discuss the difference between planning kaizen events and working kaizen events. Planning events end up with a 90-day implemenatation plan. Working events end up with 80% completion of actions by the end of the event, with 30 days to complete the remaining 20% of the actions. I try and encourage more working sessions, but planning is sometimes really important t...

In one of my recent Lean classes, I discuss ways to engage front line workers in working kaizen events. I talk about the differences between working and planning sessions in my last podcast. I discuss options for working ahead, catching up afterwards, having half-day sessions (half kaizen, half working), splitting the event across many shifts, and having the leads and supervisors participate but c...