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How to Have an Easy Life: 3 Lessons from a Fireman

24 August, 2012 by James Lawther 1 Comment

Dave having a break

I am not fond of working, I want an easy life.  I’d far rather lie on a beach than be sitting in an office. My mate Dave has an easy life.  He is a fireman.  They have an easy life, all they do is sit about, waiting for a phone call, reading the paper and […]

Filed Under: Blog, Process Improvement Tagged With: automation, first call resolution, mitigating demand, rework

How to Think Like an Auditor

16 July, 2012 by James Lawther 2 Comments

Auditor

On Friday I was audited If you live in a corporate world you will be familiar with the sensation.  I’d like to say I felt warm all over, but I would be lying (lying through my teeth). I was put through a “process audit” by an auditor in his mid 20’s, 6 foot 2 inches, […]

Filed Under: Blog, Process Improvement, Tools & Techniques Tagged With: auditors, business process management, customer requirements, measurement, process control, process mapping, risk assessment, roles and responsibilities

Do You Need Lean Thinking?

10 July, 2012 by James Lawther 5 Comments

waste paper

The term “Lean Thinking” first came into use in 1996 when James Womack and Daniel Jones published their book of the same name.  The book distilled their thoughts after studying the Toyota manufacturing business.  A lean, waste free organisation. Since then, those first lean ideas have come on a long way.  They are no longer […]

Filed Under: Blog, Process Improvement, Tools & Techniques Tagged With: defects, lean thinking, over-processing, over-production, stock, transportation waste, waiting, waste, wasted intellect, wasted motion

Are you a Manager or a Couch Potato?

24 June, 2012 by James Lawther 5 Comments

Couch Potato

couch po·ta·to Noun:  A person who spends little or no time exercising and a great deal of time watching television. What can you learn in the Midlands? I live in the Midlands, We make cars in the Midlands. A while back I thought I’d go and have a look, see what I could learn from […]

Filed Under: Blog, Process Improvement Tagged With: accountability, fessing up, manufacturing, Toyota

Customers Despise Centres of Excellence

7 April, 2012 by James Lawther 5 Comments

Chopping Tomatoes

Imagine you make pizzas for a living You are the master baker You have an army of under bakers at your disposal.  They run the best fleet of pizza ovens in the country, no sooner are they given an uncooked pizza than it is baked to perfection.  You run a pizza baking “centre of excellence” […]

Filed Under: Blog, Process Improvement Tagged With: accountability, point optimisation

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