About: Christina Irwin

Issue 9 • Mar 2012 Lean Training – New Product and Process Introduction Every organization should ensure that the products and services they provide meet the needs of the customer. Depending on the industry, your focus may vary slightly. For example, if you are in the technology business, at least 1/3 of your total sales…

Issue 8 • Jan 2012 Lean Training – Management and Staff Development One of the primary responsibilities of leadership during a cultural transformation is to develop management and staff. Why do the management and staff need to be developed? Likely many habits exist within your organization. These habits show up in actions that occur daily.…

Issue 7 • Nov 2011 Lean Training – Leadership Standard Work Leadership standard work is the hour by hour activities of management that bring a lean improvement system to life. Many of you are thinking, "Hour by Hour? Are you nuts? I do not have enough time to get everything done in a day, and…

Issue 6 • Sept 2011 The Three Types of Visual Management The principle of visual management is commonly thought to be a system that shows normal conditions from abnormal conditions. This is generally true. However, visual management is much more than that. Visual management is the system that provides the staff the knowledge and motivation…

Issue 5 • July 2011 Lean Training Stability and the 4 M’s For over a year, you have read about how lean improvement can be applied to any industry through the application of the Toyota Production System. Improvement consists of seeing and eliminating waste through the application of tools. Sustaining improvement involves following disciplined leadership…

Issue 4 • May 2011 Lean Training - Seven Ways This concept is used frequently in new product/process development improvement. Formally known as Production Process Preparation, or 3P, 7 ways is a method used to encourage creativity to generate multiple solutions to meet a customer need. The basic concept begins with a voice of the…

Issue 3 • March 2011 Central CCAC builds Lean Improvement Capacity The Central CCAC is the largest community care agency in Ontario, by population served. On any given day, over 25,000 clients receive service with over 65,000 unique clients served annually. Facing many challenges from its amalgamation in 2007, the newly constituted CCAC turned to…

Issue 2 • January 2011 Sustaining Improvement - training Sustaining is all about management. It has nothing to do with concepts and technology. It is about persistence, consistency, and tenacity. Refuse to fail! Before you can begin to sustain, you must improve. Before you improve, you must stabilize your organization. Stability begins with visual management.…