Lean thinking is often associated with manufacturing floors, production lines, and complex value stream maps. Yet waste exists in every type of process. Once you begin to see it, you realize that inefficiencies appear not only in factories but also in the everyday services we interact with.
The traditional manufacturing environment of predictable supply chains alongside stable customer demand and patient improvement cycles no longer exists in modern industry operations.
Companies are under increasing pressure to deploy AI as a substitute for human labor. It’s critical, therefore, for managers at all levels to understand AI’s strengths and limitations.
AI pioneer Geoffrey Hinton said the quiet part out loud in a December interview with Fortune Magazine – that “companies investing trillions in artificial intelligence can only make their money back by eliminating human jobs.”
A huge part of any Lean transformation is getting your team fired up about a mission, aligned on problem-solving, and hardest of all, actually working together.
Eric Hayler is a Lean Six Sigma Master Blackbelt and principal of the Hayler Group. He's also an adjunct professor of business analytics at the University of South Carolina Upstate in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
Michelle Bangert talks with Girish Gopalakrishnan, North America senior manager of continuous improvement at Case New Holland, about connected frontline workers at The Assembly Show in Chicago.
I just finished spending three days with a man named Josh Springer, inventor of “Bottoms up” a draft beer dispensing system that fills the glass from the bottom.
In an era where cybersecurity is often seen as just a budget checkbox, it's crucial to recognize its potential to drive growth and enhance trust. Explore how leveraging a combined approach of Lean, Six Sigma, and Theory of Constraints can transform cybersecurity from a mere shield against threats into a powerful catalyst for business success.