Christoph Roser - AllAboutLean.com

(EN) On China’s Manufacturing Catch Up—Part 2

Oktober 11, 2025März 4, 2025 von Christoph Roser

In my last post I started to talk about the remarkable increase in the Chinese manufacturing industry over the last decades, and how China is nowadays the manufacturing workshop for the world. Yet, in addition to opportunities, there are also challenges ahead. In my last post I described that it gets harder to catch up on technology the closer you come to the front runner (example chip making), but that there are plenty of opportunities in new industries (electric cars, solar cells). I also mentioned that past quality flaws also still have an impact on Chinese reputation. In this post I will continue with more challenges and opportunities for Chinese manufacturing. This series of posts is a mixture of facts and a lot more opinions, so feel free to disagree.

(EN) On China’s Manufacturing Catch-Up—Part 1

Oktober 11, 2025Februar 25, 2025 von Christoph Roser

A lot of the stuff you own comes from China, either as a completed product or with plenty of parts that were assembled elsewhere. „Made in China“ is a label you see very often when looking for the source of your products, albeit not everybody is convinced of the quality. In this series of two blog posts I want to look at how China improved its technological know-how as well as its manufacturing proficiency, and what challenges it faces as well as in its opportunities to completely close the gap with the Western world. This series of posts is a mixture of facts and a lot more opinions, so feel free to disagree.

(EN) On the Importance of Deep Dives

Oktober 11, 2025Februar 18, 2025 von Christoph Roser

To manage your shop floor, or maybe even improve it, you need to understand it. Yet, the complexity of modern manufacturing makes it all but impossible to truly understand the system and all its aspects and correlations, and the whole mess that we call „unintended consequences.“ Hence, you need occasional deep dives in addition to the big-picture view. In this blog post, I will talk more about deep dives. Let’s… ahem… go diving…

(EN) Why It Is So Important for Managers to Listen!

Oktober 11, 2025Februar 11, 2025 von Christoph Roser

In lean, there is a lot of talk about „learning to see,“ with the goal of better understanding the shop floor. This is, of course, important. However, another important aspect is listening, both on the shop floor and elsewhere. This blog post goes deeper into why and how to listen to the shop floor, or generally the gemba.

(EN) The Benefit for Denso of Reducing Fluctuations

Oktober 11, 2025Februar 4, 2025 von Christoph Roser

I have written a lot about leveling and the value of fluctuation in previous blog posts. In this post I will show quantitatively what the benefit of reduced fluctuations is for Denso, part of the Toyota group and a supplier to many other car makers too.

Über die achte ungenutzte menschliche Kreativität

August 21, 2025Januar 28, 2025 von Christoph Roser

Die Reduzierung oder Beseitigung von Verschwendung (Muda) ist einer der Ansätze für eine schlanke Produktion. Toyota verwendet traditionell sieben Arten von Verschwendung. In der westlichen Welt wird häufig auch eine achte Art von Verschwendung verwendet, nämlich „ungenutzte menschliche Kreativität“ Es wird viel darüber diskutiert, ob es sich dabei um eine gute, nützliche Verschwendung handelt, die man analysieren kann oder nicht. Als ich begann, diesen Artikel zu schreiben, sah ich diese Art von Verschwendung als nicht so hilfreich für die schlanke Produktion an. Colleen Soppelsa, deren Meinung ich sehr schätze, hält sie dagegen für eine sehr nützliche Verschwendungsart. Es ist an der Zeit, meine Gedanken zu sortieren und das Für und Wider der Aufnahme von „ungenutzter menschlicher Kreativität“ in die Liste der Verschwendungsarten neu zu überdenken. Vielleicht werde ich am Ende dieses Artikels meine Meinung ändern. Schauen wir mal…

(EN) Kaizen: Hoshin Kanri, Bowler Charts, Action Plans, and More

Oktober 11, 2025Januar 21, 2025 von Christoph Roser

In my last two posts I described bowler charts, named due to their similarity to the score charts used for bowling. In this post I want to talk a bit more how the bowler chart fits in the big picture… or, if you will, how the big picture can use a bowler chart.

This will be a big picture on kaizen improvement. First you need your true north, which allows you to set your overarching targets (e.g., in a hoshin kanri). To reach the overarching targets in the hoshin kanri, you need practical problem solving, A3s, or an Action plan to make actual improvements toward your overarching goals. Underlying all of this is of course the PDCA. But, let me show you in more detail:

(EN) The Bowler Chart—Caveats and Improvements

Oktober 11, 2025Januar 14, 2025 von Christoph Roser

The bowler chart, or bowling chart, is a table that is used to track the progress of an improvement project, deliverable, or task. Its name comes from the high similarity to the bowling score sheets that are used to track the progress during a bowling game. In my last post I also explained possible pitfalls with the owner, the projects, and the numeric target. This post continues with more caveats on target progression and the use of color, before suggesting a possible improvement to make the progress even more visual. (Spoiler: Use a diagram!). But, read on…