Author: Tony

A Wall Street Journal article, For a More Productive Workforce, Scientific Know-How Helps,  Lauren Weber,  June 28, 2017, describes a new study from the National Bureau of Economic Research.  “Companies with a…

A major aerospace company trains over 300 line and management employees to advance existing programs The case study is of a major aerospace company whose repair and overhaul (R&O) business…

An article recently recirculated on Linkedin described the secret to forecasting as: “the best way to improve your forecasting is to reduce your forecasting.”  The article also provided a picture of some sort of martial arts contest and…

Companies pursue supply chain speed as a competitive advantage but often wreak havoc. Instant communication and voracious data transfer can easily overwhelm today’s managers. Trying to manage with speed is…

We first met Norbert Majerus at one of our Factory Physics seminars in Tampa in 2005. He was just beginning his Lean journey at Goodyear. As Norbert relates it, “When I…

Industry surveys are everywhere. The term “alternative facts” has recently come under scrutiny and provides good insight into much of the value of industry surveys. To quote Mary Norris’ recent…

There is a crisis in the management of mega projects. Companies spend billions of dollars on energy and civil construction projects which are chronically late and over budget. Fortunately, the…

How often do your meetings end in applause? Ever been in a bad meeting? Far too many people have. There are innumerable articles about time wasted in meetings. So why…

Employee capacity planning directly affects employee morale and performance. Many companies do capacity planning and staffing using a “seat of the pants” approach and their productivity suffers.  Unfortunately, the relationship between…

“The value of experience is not in seeing much, but in seeing wisely.” – William Osler Performance improvement strategies that focus on value-added activities have been popular for at least…