How ERP Supports Lean
For a long time, the idea of implementing ERP and getting lean seemed like they were worlds apart. ERP was robust and embraced all aspects of the business: [...]
Three Key Pillars of Lean Transformation
We like highlighting and learning from stories about companies getting “lean” because helping manufacturing and distribution companies become more competitive through lean processes supported by good software is [...]
How Six Sigma Can Boost Your ERP Benefits
In our March 31, 2016 post we discussed how the tool set known as Six Sigma can help firms save a lot of money by enabling continuous improvement throughout [...]
Simplify Your Lean: Getting the Most Bang for the Least Buck
Taiichi Ohno, father of the Toyota Production System, once said of the lean approach that “All we are doing is looking at the timeline from the moment the [...]
The Seven Wastes
APICS fans will recall that Shigeo Shingo – the master of lean manufacturing and Toyota waste reduction – first coined the notion of the 7 wastes of manufacturing. [...]
A Primer on the Basic Simplicity of Lean Six Sigma
In manufacturing two sets of concepts are often discussed (though less often implemented). These are “lean” and “six sigma.” Each when applied in its own right brings enhanced [...]
What People Sometimes Forget About Lean
Richard Schonberger is the author of over a dozen books on Lean, Six Sigma and process improvement. In the most recent issue of APICS Magazine he casts an [...]