All Features
Mark Rosenthal
Training Within Industry (TWI) job instruction is built around a four-step process titled “How to Instruct.”
Steps two and three are the core of the process: • Present the operation • Try out performance
I want to discuss step three: Try out performance
Teaching back as learning
All too often I…
Jason Chester
Even in the midst of the pandemic, product safety and quality remain critical. For many manufacturers, complex quality management systems and procedures stand in the way of agile responses and effective operational optimization. Cloud technology provides the means to dramatically simplify quality…
Cheryl Carleton
The labor market is changing rapidly with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.
Many organizations are laying off almost all of their workers, while others are considering which workers to lay off, which to furlough, and which to keep. Alternatively, some are expanding their labor forces.
When…
Julius DeSilva
ISO 9001 certifications have seen a decline during the past two years, per data from ISO. Some say the standard has gotten too complicated with the introduction of organizational context, risk-based thinking, and the removal of mandatory documented procedures. Even a few of QMII’s clients have…
Bruce Hamilton
Most lean folks use 5 Whys daily to problem solve, but relatively few are familiar with a clever problem-solving device developed 30 years ago by Deming Prize winner Ryuji Fukuda, called the why-not diagram.
Because objection is a natural human response to new ideas, Fukuda created the why-not…
Kathleen Wybourn
Business continuity is a relatively simple idea. Plan ahead so you can keep your business successful during times of difficulty. Key management transitions, loss of a major customer, the impact of a lawsuit, perhaps a fire or an earthquake. But what if that “difficulty” is a global public health…
Donald J. Wheeler, Al Pfadt
Each day we receive data that seek to quantify the Covid-19 pandemic. These daily values tell us how things have changed from yesterday, and give us the current totals, but they are difficult to understand simply because they are only a small piece of the puzzle. And like pieces of a puzzle, data…
Stanislav Shekshnia
Corporate boards across Europe are reacting to the coronavirus pandemic in three ways. For some, it’s business as usual. “Crisis is the business of the CEO; the board does not need to adjust its workings,” the chair of one such board told me. Other boards are going in the opposite direction,…
The Hechinger Report
Students generally learn about moles, atoms, compounds, and the intricacies of the periodic table in college, but Daniel Fried is convinced kids can learn complex biochemistry topics as early as elementary school.
Fried is an assistant professor of chemistry at Saint Peter’s University in New…
Stephanie Parker, Knowable Magazine
This story was originally published by Knowable Magazine.
An anthropologist looks at the myriad ways we link food to place—and whether it really could make a difference.
“Local food” is a term loaded with virtue for many people. Some with environmental concerns lean toward local because food…
William A. Levinson
The phrase “flatten the curve” means to slow the transmission of the coronavirus (Covid-19) in order to spread the total number of cases out over a longer period of time. This will avoid overwhelming the healthcare system.1 The model is accurate as presented throughout the internet, but it also…
Mike Figliuolo
Projects go off the rails all the time. Some statistics I’ve seen say only one in eight projects can truly be declared a success. Why are we so horrible at executing projects, especially when we have all these “tried and true” project management methodologies?
There are seven deadly killers of…
Norm Friesen
As the Covid-19 pandemic forces many U.S. colleges and universities to move their courses online, connecting online via video is now having its moment.
Family, friends, neighbors, and even TV talk-show hosts are now meeting and broadcasting from home. Meanwhile, Microsoft, Google, and Zoom are…
Mark Rosenthal
Sometimes I see people chasing their tails when trying to troubleshoot a process. This usually (though not always) follows a complaint or rejection of some kind.
A few years ago I posted “Organize, Standardize, Stabilize, Optimize” and talked in general terms about the sequence of thinking that…
Eric Stoop
According to the National Safety Council, the rate of preventable workplace fatalities per 100,000 workers has flattened or risen slightly since 2009 after decades of steady improvement in occupational safety.
Companies conducting layered process audits (LPAs) can help get the United States get…
Jason Chester
The Covid-19 pandemic has hit every industry with a barrage of challenges. The impacts on the manufacturing sector are already extending far beyond factory walls. And for now, the depth of those impacts and the expectation for recovery are unknown.
Fortunately, manufacturers are a highly adaptable…
Howard Tiersky
Working from home (WFH) is quickly becoming the new normal. The Covid-19 pandemic kicked the WFH movement into high gear, and many experts believe it will continue long after the crisis has passed. (This article makes a solid case.) But before we can optimize this new way of working, we’re all…
Lee Seok Hwai
In the trenches of the battle against Covid-19, critical defensive gear and medical equipment are in short supply. Doctors and nurses fighting the nonstop onslaught of the highly contagious coronavirus desperately need more ventilators, test kits, surgical masks, shields, and gowns.
In Spain,…
Jason Chester
Manufacturers routinely face uncertainty, risk, and volatility in everyday operations. It’s understood that organizations must be ready for anything, from supply chain interruptions, supplier quality issues and process variations, to volatility in market demand, competitor activities, and political…
Chip Bell
The “camp” where we board our cat is fantastic. Our cat gets “tree time”—a giant climbing structure with tunnels and carpeted “trees” to climb and scratch. She gets the best of tender loving care, complete with brush-outs and nail trims. But try and contact the camp hands-free from your car, and…
Jon Marcus
Want to find out how much it will cost to go to Arkansas Northeastern College? The federal government has a website that promises you can “Calculate your personal net price.” But clicking on that link brings you to the college’s own home page with a fun photo of its cuddly mascot and no immediate…
Paula Caligiuri, Helen De Cieri
The coronavirus pandemic has forced tens of millions of employees across the United States to work from home. While this will save lives by limiting the transmission of Covid-19, it also poses significant challenges for employees’ well-being.
How can companies support the health of their employees…
Jim Benson
Every endeavor we undertake starts with a goal. A goal starts as an idea, which morphs into a desire, which becomes a goal. Ideas are vague, desires are inspiring, and a goal is actionable inspiration.
A goal is not a plan. A goal should not be overly specific. And a goal should be deeper than a…
Rebecca Spang
Arnold Schwarzenegger tweeted a video of himself on March 15, 2020, saying: “No more restaurants.” Seated in his palatial kitchen with two miniature horses, Whiskey and Lulu, beside him, the former California governor pronounced: “We don’t go out; we don’t go to restaurants. We don’t do anything…
Dave Coffaro
I recently read an article in an airline magazine about the resurgence of something called paint by numbers. The idea came about during the early 1950s, and it’s a mix between a coloring book and painting on a canvas. It allows anyone to create a detailed work of art, even if they’ve never taken an…
