I was on a quest, a quest to find the cheapest ballpoint pen possible. And what I found was amazing. Modern manufacturing has achieved stunning productivity, where even a complex product like a ballpoint pen can be produced at costs that were unbelievable only a few decades ago. While everybody can make a pen, the goal in manufacturing is always to make it cheaper! For the same functionality, the customer will almost always go for the cheaper products. Let me show you the results of my quest. Continue reading How Cheap Can You Make it?
All posts by Christoph Roser
25 Years after W. Edwards Deming
Twenty-five years ago today, William Edwards Deming (October 14, 1900 – December 20, 1993) passed away. He greatly influenced the management of quality in Japan, where he is still revered as one of the great gurus in manufacturing. Through his influence on Toyota, his ideas are now common in the lean world. Time to look back at his life. Continue reading 25 Years after W. Edwards Deming
Point-of-Use Provider Routing
This is my last post of a series of three posts on point-of-use providers (also known as mizusumashi, water strider, or water spider). In this post I will go into much more detail on the routing of the point-of-use provider. A less-busy point-of-use provider can handle multiple lines. Similarly, very busy lines may have multiple point-of-use providers. Here I will show you some more details on these possibilities. Continue reading Point-of-Use Provider Routing
Point-of-Use Provider Calculations
In this second post of my series on point-of-use providers (also known as Mizusumashi, water strider, or water spider), I will discuss the calculation of the workload for the point-of-use provider … although calculation is a way-too-big word for what is, in practice, guesswork with limited data of low quality. However, I hope it helps you with planning your point-of-use providers. Continue reading Point-of-Use Provider Calculations
Introduction to Point-of-Use Providers (or Mizusumashi)
The point-of-use provider, also known as Mizusumashi, water strider, or water spider, is a worker that supplies material to the point of use. Similar to a waiter bringing food and drinks (and beer 🙂 ) to the customer, the point-of-use provider brings material to the workers. The latter, however, merely refills materials rather than custom orders. This point-of-use provider fulfills an important role between the inventory and the final point of use. Let me give you the details: Continue reading Introduction to Point-of-Use Providers (or Mizusumashi)
Lean Construction
The methods of lean have been adapted to a wide variety of industries, from military to healthcare, from government to banking. One of these industries is lean construction, where it’s applied to the construction industry. In this post I would like to give you an overview of the similarities and differences, and how to adapt lean methods for construction. Continue reading Lean Construction
Example of Problem Solving – Japanese Men’s Relay Team Rio 2016
Good problem solving can seriously help you with the performance in your plant. John Shook recently pointed out another nice example to me: the Japanese Men’s 4x100m relay team during the 2016 Olympics in Rio. They were the underdogs, with none of their team having ever run 100m in under 10 seconds. Yet they stunningly won the silver medal! They achieved this through good problem solving. Let me show you the details: Continue reading Example of Problem Solving – Japanese Men’s Relay Team Rio 2016
A Good Standard Needs No Explanation
Standards are one of the backbones of lean manufacturing. For a standard to be good and used consistently, it should be self-explanatory. Additionally, you should understand it well enough to easily recognize deviations from the standard. I would like to give you an example of how my thought process works when exploring a standard. Continue reading A Good Standard Needs No Explanation