There are many methods for making multi-objective decisions described in Lean Six Sigma and other disciplines. Benjamin Franklin developed a simple but effective one. In 1772, Joseph Priestly, the discoverer of oxygen, had an important decision to make that had several advantages and disadvantages. He turned to his friend, Benjamin Franklin for help. In the [...]
What is a Digital Twin? Why is it more than simulation? How will it revolutionize design, development, and operation of products and systems? While a simulation is defined as “… an approximate imitation of the operation of a process or system that represents its operation over time.” - Wikipedia. A digital twin is defined as [...]
It’s the time of year when many make New Year’s resolutions. But how many people keep them? What do experts say we can do to make our resolutions stick? We’ll learn from two: Dr. Michael Evans – Professor of Family Medicine at the University of Toronto, who also works with Apple to design new ways [...]
Almost five months after World War I began, and after close to a million lives had been lost, an impromptu truce took place around Christmas. Called the Christmas Truce, learn about what took place never to happen again. It began on Christmas Eve 1914 when British and German troops started singing Christmas carols to each [...]
Warehouses are everywhere. How are some companies using Lean in their warehouses? We will look at four: INFILCO Ryder United Electric Supply Regal Plastics And finish with a 3 minute virtual tour of a Lean warehouse. INFILCO INFILCO Degremont’s 3W Warehouse applied Lean management principles using A3 Problem-solving, 5S, and visual controls. Their improvement project [...]
We are quite familiar with Lean’s 5s. How can we use them to improve safety? Enter the 5s + 1 or 6s approach. We learn how from Gary Beaudette, Lean Consultant and owner – Baudette Consulting, Inc. 5s can improve safety, quality, and productivity. In particular, 5s can have a tremendous positive impact on safety. [...]
Maton Guitars in Australia manufactures handcrafted high quality guitars. Learn how they use mass balance to lean their guitar-making processes. In this video from Sustainability Victoria Government, Ian Young, Sustainability and Business Excellence Manager at Maton Guitars, discusses the use of mass balance to optimize the use of all the resources focusing on the materials [...]
Benford’s Law was published in 1938, but over 80 years later, events over the past year have resurfaced discussions of Benford’s Law. What is the law? What are its applications? Benford’s Law is a mathematical formula that calculates the probability of occurrence of the non-zero leading digits in data sets that span several orders of [...]
Most of us are familiar with the seven wastes in Lean. But often we hear of an additional eighth waste – Underutilized Skills and Talent. What contributes to it, and how can we improve? To address this, we will hear from two Lean experts and then the authors of a recent research article. First, in [...]
Having access to an online game simulator is quite useful in teaching various aspects of statistics. We will look at three in order of complexity: a basic projectile simulator, a catapult and the trebuchet. While using an online simulator loses the hands-on aspect and the associated errors, it relieves us of having to have the [...]
