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(EN) Lies, Damned Lies, and KPI – Part 1: Examples of Fudging

Christoph Roser März 15, 2015

Upward Trend — Don’t get too excited about your numbers!

Statistical measurements, usually called key performance indicators (KPIs) are found on pretty much every shop floor and in every company. Many management decisions are made based on KPI. Unfortunately, these numbers often are not reliable at all.

Mark Twain popularized the phrase „Lies, damned lies, and statistics.“ Winston Churchill famously said, “I only believe in statistics that I doctored myself.” Hence, both men were wary of trusting numbers. You should be too!

(EN) The Seven Types of Waste (Muda) – Now with 24 More Types of Waste Absolutely Free!

Christoph Roser März 8, 2015

One popular and well-known concept of the Toyota Production System is the elimination of waste, in Japanese also called muda (無駄). It is one of the three evils of manufacturing systems, the others being unevenness (mura, 斑) and overburden (muri, 無理). In this post I would like to go through the details of waste with you. This includes the traditional seven types of waste – of which I am a big fan. For completeness sake I also included a lot more types of waste I have come across in industry. However, you have to decide yourself if these additional wastes are not themselves a waste.

(EN) How a Planned Economy Can Screw Up an Entire Country – Analogy between Cuba’s Communist Economy and Push Systems

Christoph Roser März 1, 2015

Over Christmas I escaped the cold weather in Germany and relaxed on the warm beaches in Cuba. Of course, being a lean expert, I was also interested in the Cuban economy. As a communist economy (or more precisely, a socialist economy), it is based on centralized planning. In comparison, the capitalist system of the US (and most of the rest of the world) leaves most business decisions to individual entrepreneurs. This is somewhat similar to push and pull in manufacturing. Push systems also rely on centralized planning, while pull systems have their signal from inside the system to match the customer demand. As capitalism outperforms communism, pull usually outperforms push. Hence, in this post I would like to show you the shenanigans that happen in Cuba due to the effects of centralized planning. Warning: Lots of images ahead!

(EN) Benefits and Flaws of CONWIP in Comparison to Kanban

Christoph Roser Februar 22, 2015

CONWIP go round with different parts like roller coaster seats with people — CONWIP-go-round with different parts – like roller coaster seats with people

In my last posts I discussed the basics of CONWIP systems (Constant Work In Progress) and answered some frequently asked questions Part 1 and Part 2 on CONWIP. Overall, CONWIP is a pretty cool alternative to kanban, also establishing a pull system. It has some very valuable advantages, but it also comes with some disadvantages. In this final post of my series on CONWIP, I will shed light on some of these advantages and disadvantages, especially in comparison with kanban, but also with drum-buffer-rope.

(EN) Frequently Asked Questions on CONWIP Systems – Part 2

Christoph Roser Februar 15, 2015

Roller Coaster — CONWIP-go-round with different parts – like roller coaster seats with people

In the last two posts I described the basics of a CONWIP system and started with the frequently asked questions on CONWIP, where CONWIP stands for Constant Work In Progress. However, there are some more frequently asked questions that are also important for CONWIP. These I will explain here. The next and final post of this series will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of CONWIP.

(EN) Frequently Asked Questions on CONWIP Systems – Part 1

Christoph Roser Februar 8, 2015

In the last post, I started with the basics of a CONWIP system, where CONWIP stands for Constant Work In Progress. However, there are some more frequently asked questions that are also important for CONWIP. These I will explain here.

Initially, I wanted to write one quick post explaining CONWIP. However, as it happens all too often, one post turns out to be not enough. It quickly expands into multiple posts of a series in order to give you a good, well-rounded overview of the topic. Hence, the frequently asked questions will be covered in two separate posts. After that, the fourth and truly final post of this series will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of CONWIP.

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(EN) Lies, Damned Lies, and KPI – Part 1: Examples of Fudging

(EN) The Seven Types of Waste (Muda) – Now with 24 More Types of Waste Absolutely Free!

(EN) How a Planned Economy Can Screw Up an Entire Country – Analogy between Cuba’s Communist Economy and Push Systems

(EN) Benefits and Flaws of CONWIP in Comparison to Kanban

(EN) Frequently Asked Questions on CONWIP Systems – Part 2

(EN) Frequently Asked Questions on CONWIP Systems – Part 1