New .com business models are popping up more often than I update my Facebook wall these days. Either through apps or web-services, the providers promise you a service that you will not understand how you coped without before. Some of them are definitely adding value for the society, while some are more annoying than good. I’ve tried out several of these electronic products – some I will continue using, but many I will let go. Here’s my decision list for some of the services I’ve used lately:
Why lean is losing it’s mojo (but not it’s significance)
The last 3 years we have seen a renewed explosion in the industrial interest on lean. Ignited by the two waves of economic downturns since 2008 and fueled by consultancy and lean missionaries, literally every business are now going lean. The shared aim is reducing costs and improving customer service by “working smarter not harder”. Today we have “lean services”, “lean construction”, “lean in the office”, “lean healthcare”, “lean ship-building”, “lean logistics, “lean management” and lean this and that… As lean disseminates from its origin in the automobile industry to services and the public sector, I see the word “lean” growing far beyond its roots and often even intentions. For me the term is losing it’s mojo.
The Ideal Factory
High-tech products are foreseen to build the future competitiveness of the Western economies’ manufacturing sectors. However – what probably will become the most important manufacturing paradigm for the Western economies – lacks proper theoretical concepts and frameworks for industrialisation. Lean & co are simply not suitable enough for high-tech, customized, knowledge-intensive and lower-volume production. In order to remain competitive there has been a need to develop new production concepts with belonging methods, systems and tools for modern high-tech and mass-customised production systems. A good thing then that someone has made an effort to close this gap…
7.000.000.000 people to serve: What does this mean for manufacturing industries?
Today we turned 7 billion people on the earth. When I grew up in the 1980s, I remember we talked about turning 5 billion people. A magical number that made us learn about the world population in several weeks in school; discussing and drawing more or less successful children sketches of our multi-cultural and common world. My father has seen the world population triple fold in his life time; In 1940 there were 2,3 billion world citizens according to UN. UN estimates that the growth rate will now decline some, but still we will probably turn 9 billion people in 2050. What does these figures imply for manufacturing industries worldwide?
3 reasons why you need a [your firm-name here] Production System
Do you need a company-specific Production System (XPS) to boost your operational improvement? Yes you do. Here are three reasons why:
The Coupon Society
Have you seen any coupons lately? Of course, you have. They are everywhere. In the US we live in a Coupon Society. I undertook a brief investigation into the amount of coupons in our daily lives by counting the number of coupons in today’s Washington Post. Here is why we should end this paradigm.
What is XPS?
XPS stands for “Company-specific Production System” [1], and describes a corporate-wide system that aims to improve and maintain a competitive operations system. Many multinational companies have implemented an XPS today: Examples are the Bosch Production System, Boeing Production System, Audi Production System, Lego Production System, John Deere Quality and Production System, Alcoa Business System, REC Production System, Electrolux Manufacturing System, and so on and so on…
Example of a typical XPS: the Electrolux Manufacturing System [2]
A stone of hope
On a wonderful and sunny Sunday morning, thousands enjoyed the opening ceremony of the Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK) Memorial in D.C: A stone of hope. MLK was a drum-major for change in his time. Are we now living MLK’s 1963 dream speech? [The following quotes are paraphrases of the speeches]
Wall Street v.2.0 – no greed, no envy
The Occupy Wall Street campaign is legitimate. As long as the nonviolence policy of the movement sustains, their voices deserves to be heard and political actions should be taken to oblige their cause. They claim to represent 99 % of the people, fighting the ever-growing gap between the richest and the rest. Liberty and justice for all – who does not support that?
No country can afford wasting its human resources
These times are troubled times for the global economy and the United States. In the US, the main challenge is neither greedy banks nor competition from China, but the underlying fear that prevails the society and economy. This country is built on everything but fear; bravery, boldness, passion, and energy. What Franklin D. Roosevelt, almost 80 years ago, depicted as a worst-case scenario is nevertheless sneaking into the minds of Americans: “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself” (FDR, 1932). The most important job of the American Jobs Act is to remove fear. A sustainable way to remove fear is to provide people with good and secure jobs.
Walmart: Delivers
Walmart – the world’s biggest private employer – gives jobs to 2.1 miilion people worldwide. That is close to the complete Norwegian workforce (2.5 mill in 2011, SSB)… Walmart is now and then subject to critique and their products are usually mocked as low quality. I’m testing this out. My hypothesis will be that Walmart gives relatively more value for the bucks than most other retailers out there. How else could they become so hugely successful?
Child chooses love at MLK Memorial in D.C.
Child chooses love at the MLK Memorial in Washington D.C. (c) tnetland
"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." (Martin Luther King, 1963, Strength to Love)
Apply this truth in your organization as well as in your life.
The truth about money
This morning I came across the following food-for-thought hanging in an office at Georgetown University. It is so well put and true to the bone, that there’s no need for further elaboration.
“It is said that for money you can have everything, but you cannot. You can buy food, but not appetite; medicine, but not health; knowledge, but not wisdom; glitter, but not beauty; fun, but not joy; acquaintances, but not friends; servants, but not faithfulness; leisure, but not peace. You can have the husk of everything, but not the kernel.” (Arne Garbog, Norwegian writer)
Death by choices – how complex can a sandwich get?
I lined up for a sandwich for lunch. Subway should be an excellent choice, claiming their position as the world’s largest “submarine sandwich” chain. However, my experience was different from expected, and as an operations guy, I would like to see some improvements…
Managing by values
This weekend I had the pleasure of personally getting to know Simon L. Dolan in a work shop at the Georgetown University in Washington D.C. Prof. Dolan is known for numerous articles and books on value management and cultural re-engineering. For the last ten years he has been based at the ESADE Business School in Barcelona, Spain. I have self been teaching students the theory of value management using Prof. Dolan’s writings as curriculum, and was naturally eager to hear some gems of wisdom from Dolan himself…