Superfactory Newsletter
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Past Issues of the Superfactory Newsletter
NOTE: Due to a recent change in site servers, some of the graphics in the archived newsletters are missing.
| March 2011 | Article: Zenjidoka by Norman Bodek Book: Lean IT by Steven Bell and Michael Orzen Blog Post: Wrapping Their Heads Around Value by Bill Waddell |
| February 2011 | Article: Elephants are Best Eaten One Bite at a Time by Bill Waddell Book: Escape the Improvement Trap by Michael Bremer Blog Post: Houston, We Have a Problem |
| January 2011 | Article: The Priority of Principles by Bill Waddell Book: Simple Excellence by Adam Zak and William Waddell Blog Post: Let's Put This Myth in a Coffin Already by Dan Markovitz |
| December 2010 | Article: Lean on the Hoof by Bill Waddell Book: The Shibumi Strategy by Matthew E. May Blog Post: Costco vs. the Just-in-Time Consumer |
| November 2010 | Article: Dyslexics Wanted by Mike Micklewright Book: The A3 Workbook by Daniel Matthews Blog Post: Ivy Covered Waste |
| October 2010 | Article: Where are the Lean Economists? by Bob Emiliani Book: Lean Human Resources by Cheryl Jekiel Blog Post: One Option is Competence |
| September 2010 | Article: Progressive Management - 100 Years of Criticism by Bob Emiliani Book: Target Cost Management by Jim Rains Blog Post: Ivy Covered Waste |
| August 2010 | Article: Pitstop Your Changeovers by John Henry Book: Standard Work for Noncyclical Processes by Joseph Niederstadt Blog Post: Cafeteria Lean |
| July 2010 | Article: Woollard's Eighteen Principles of Flow Production by Bob Emiliani Book:Building a Lean Fulfillment Stream by Robert Martichenko Blog Post: Gotta Get Their Heads Out of the Buckets |
| June 2010 | Article: Living in an Upside Down World by Norman Bodek Book: Building a Lean Fulfillment Stream by Robert Martichenko Blog Post: Freight is the Tail, Not the Dog |
| May 2010 | Article: Better to Improve Than Be Offended by Bob Emiliani Book: How to Do Kaizen by Norman Bodek Blog Post: Lean as the Last Resort |
| April 2010 | Article: The Psychology of Lean Management by Michael Balle Book: Liquid Lean by Raymond Floyd Blog Post: The Single Greatest Obstacle to Manufacturing Excellence |
| March 2010 | Article: Putting Lean Into Orbit by Bob Emiliani Book: The Lean Machine by Dantar Ooosterwal Blog Post: Can you apply lean to pompous bloviation |
| February 2010 | Article: 25 Problems by Jamie Flinchbaugh Book: Fundamental Principles of Lean Manufacturing by Shigeo Shingo Blog Post: A New Critical Japanese Term: Oushikusho |
| January 2010 | Article: A Message from the Future by Anonymous Book: Real Lean (volume 5) by Bob Emiliani Blog Post: Lean Leaders and Losers of 2009 |
| December 2009 | Article: Lean Leadership by Michael Balle Book: Bounce by Keith McFarland Blog Post: The Lean Ratio |
| November 2009 | Article: Free Money, Free Love by Bob Emiliani Book: Compression by Robert "Doc" Hall Blog Post: Circling the Wagons of Ignorance |
| October 2009 | Article: The Need for Speed by Tom Shaw Book: Toyota Kata by Mike Rother Blog Post: Who Wants to be Spun? |
| September 2009 | Article: Toyota Denouement by Bob Emiliani Book: The Lean Manager by Michael Balle Blog Post: What's the Italian Word for Insane? |
| August 2009 | Article: The Obstacle to Lean Accounting by Bill Waddell Book: The Birth of Lean by Koichi Shimokawa Blog Post: Leading from the Gemba |
| July 2009 | Article: Who Teaches the Teachers? by Michael Balle Book: Follow the Learner by Sami Bahri Blog Post: Boeing's About Face and Lean Accounting |
| June 2009 | Article: The Toyota Half-Way by Bob Emiliani Book: Whaddaya Mean I Gotta Be Lean? by Jeff Hajek Blog Post: If Baseball Were Run Like Fortune 500 Manufacturing |
| May 2009 | Article: Financial Worries? Take Action With Lean Now! by Jean Cunningham Book: In Pursuit of Elegance by Matthew E. May Blog Post: So Fair an Opportunity |
| April 2009 | Article: Toyota's British Influence by Bob Emiliani Book: Supply-Based Advantage by Stephen Rogers Blog Post: Pop Goes China |
| March 2009 | Article: Turbulent Economy Survival Kit by Terence Burton Book: The Choice by Eliyahu Goldratt Blog Post: Homozygosity - That's the Problem! |
| February 2009 | Article: Frank Woollard: Forgotton Pioneer of Flow Production by Bob Emiliani Book: Principles of Mass and Flow Production by Frank Woollard and Bob Emiliani Blog Post: Waste in Speed |
| January 2009 | Article: The Skinny on Lean Management by Richard Schonberger Book: Managing to Learn by John Shook Blog Post: Japan Kaikaku Experience - The Summary |
| November 2008 | Article: Toyota Kyushu - The Manufacturing Ballet by Kevin Meyer Book: Real Lean Volume 4 by Bob Emiliani Blog Post: Japan Kaikaku Experience - The Summary |
| October 2008 |
Article: Proof of Process as Leading Indicators by Cash Powell Book: Going Lean by Stephen Ruffa Blog Post: A 5am Wakeup Call |
| September 2008 | Article: Perseverance Will Pay Off by John Rubio Book: Value Stream Management by Drew Locher Blog Post: Four More Hours of Lean |
| August 2008 |
Article: Attention: We Can Stop Making the Same Mistake Now by Bob Emiliani Book: Lean Hospitals by Mark Graban Blog Post: Get Small. Get Lean. |
| July 2008 | Article: A Great Trip to Japan by Norman Bodek Book: Real Lean Volume 3 by Bob Emiliani Blog Post: The Dreamliner Follies Continue |
| June 2008 | Article: Dark Days for Lean Management by Bob Emiliani Book: Extreme Toyota by Emi Osono Blog Post: Different Approaches to a Truck Slowdown |
| May 2008 | Article: Lean Problem Solving and Continuous Improvement of Accounting Processes by Brian Maskell Book: Value Acceleration by Mitchell Gooze Blog Post: Costco Versus the Lean Corner Store |
| April 2008 | Article: How to Apply Lean Principles by Norman Bodek Book: Make or Break by Kaj Grichnik & Conrad Winkler Blog Post: Parenting Tips From Toyota |
| March 2008 | Article: Lean Quality Documentation Systems by Mike Micklewright Book: Integrated Enterprise Excellence by Forrest Breyfogle Blog Post: It's All About Respect for People |
| February 2008 | Article: The Equally Important "Respect for People" Principle by Bob Emiliani Book: Practical Lean Leadership by Bob Emiliani Blog Post: Excessive or Progressive CEO Pay |
| January 2008 | Article: Lean Healthcare by Mark Graban Book: Best Practices in Lean Six Sigma Process Improvement by Richard Schonberger Blog Post: Why a To-Do List Doesn't Work |
| December 2007 | Article: Lean Accounting - Beyond the Back Office by Brian Maskell and the BMA Inc. Team Book: Accounting for World Class Operations by Jerry Solomon & Rosemary Fullerton Blog Post: Boeing's Outsourcing Hell |
| November 2007 | Article: A Japanese Study Mission by Norman Bodek Book: Kaizen and the Art of Creative Thinking by Shigeo Shingo Blog Post: The False God Opens a New Front |
| October 2007 | Article: Plug Power - A Work Culture to Accelerate Innovation by Robert Hall Book: Supply Chain Excellence by Peter Bolstorff Blog Post: Grinstein's Lesson |
| September 2007 | Article: Lean Manufacturing: Are You Ready? by James Cavalluzzi Book: Chain Reaction: How Today's Best Companies Manage Their Supply Chains by Robert Malone Blog Post: What Is Your Training Threshold? by Craig Woll |
| August 2007 | Article: You've Got Too Much Time On Your Hands. Really. by Dan Markovitz Book: Real Lean (Volumes 1 and 2) by Bob Emiliani Blog Post: Toyota Training the World... Sort Of by Craig Woll |
| July 2007 | Article: Can Lean Exit the Tool Age? by Bob Emiliani Book: Lean Cost Accounting by Jim Huntzinger Blog Post: The Obesity Epidemic by Dan Markovitz |
| June 2007 | Article: The Lean Job Shop by Drew Locher Article: Watch Out for the Toolheads by John Seddon Book: Breaking Through to Flow by Ian Glenday |
| May 2007 | Article: The Leadership Problem by Bob Emiliani Article: Organizational Development: The Missing Link in Lean by Richard G. Ligus Book: Taiichi Ohno's Workplace Management by Taiichi Ohno |
| April 2007 | Article: The Persistance of the Current State by Bob Emiliani Article: Sustaining Lean: The Steering Committee by Don Kivell Book: Value Stream and Process Mapping by Quarterman Lee |
| March 2007 | Article: Gaining Executive Buy-In for Lean by Bob Emiliani Article: Sustaining Lean: Effective Audits by Don Kivell Book: Quick Changeover Simplified by Fletcher Birmingham and Jim Jelinek |
| February 2007 | Article: The Culture Thing by Robert "Doc" Hall Article: Discovering the Lean Supply Chain: Transforming Suppliers into Powerful Lean Differentiators by Robert Hawkey Book: Evolving Excellence: Thoughts on Lean Enterprise Leadership by Kevin Meyer and Bill Waddell |
| January 2007 | Article: Too Much Selfish Thinking by Bob Emiliani Article: Sustaining Lean: Empowerment by Don Kivell Book: Getting the Right Things Done by Pascal Dennis |
| December 2006 | Article: TPS: The Thinking Production System by Dan Markovitz Article: Sustaining Lean: Multiply Your Successes by Don Kivell Book: The Lean Product Development Guide by Ron Mascitelli |
| November 2006 | Article: Discovering the Lean Supply Chain by Robert Hawkey Article: The Tragedy of Waste by Bob Emiliani Book: Lean Six Sigma That Works by Bill Carreira and Bill Trudell |
| October 2006 | Article: In Pursuit of Profitable Growth by Bill Gaw Article: Myth-Busting Using Value Stream Maps by Bob Emiliani Book: Life's Little Lean Accounting Instruction Book by Brian Maskell & Susan Lilly |
| September 2006 | Article: In Pursuit of Profitable Growth by Bill Gaw What is Kaizen? by Bruce Hamilton Article: Three Perspectives on Lean by Malcolm Jones Book: Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems and Transformable Factories by Anatoli Dashchenko |
| August 2006 | Article: Supply and Da Man by Joel Makower Article: Who Can Shout Louder? by Norman Bodek Book: Hoshin Kanri for the Lean Enterprise by Tom Jackson |
| July 2006 | Article: Lean Government: Crazy Dream or Absolute Necessity? by Bob Emiliani Article: Shingo's P-Course and Contribution to TPS by Isao Kato Book: Training Within Industry: The Foundation of Lean by Donald Dinero |
| June 2006 | Article: Lean Six Sigma - An Oxymoron? by Mike Micklewright Article: Dr. Shingo - The Greatest Manufacturing Consultant by Norman Bodek Book: The Toyota Development System by Morgan and Liker |
| May 2006 | Article: Six Sigma for Small and Mid-Sized Organizations by Terence Burton Article: Remembering What Ohno and Shingo Said by Bob Emiliani Book: The Toyota Development System by Morgan and Liker |
| April 2006 | Article: MRP R.I.P. by Bill Waddell Article: Shingo's Influence on TPS - An Interview with Isao Kato by Art Smalley Book: JIT is Flow by Hirano and Furuya |
| March 2006 | Article: TPS vs. Lean - Additional Perspectives by Art Smalley Book: Getting Lean: An Introduction to Lean Business Practices by Jerry Feingold |
| February 2006 | Article: The Missing Link: Driving Improvement Results to the P&L by Michael Bremer Article: Lean is Music to My Ears by Bob Emiliani Book: Six Sigma: Financial Tracking & Reporting by Bremer, McKibben, and McCarty |
| January 2006 | Article: The People Side of Lean by Bruce Hamilton Book: The Hitchhiker's Guide to Lean: Lessons from the Road by Andy Carlino & Jamie Flinchbaugh |
| December 2005 | Article: TPS vs. Lean and the Law of Unintended Consequences by Art Smalley Book: Rebirth of American Industry - A Study of Lean Management by Bill Waddell & Norman Bodek |
| November 2005 | Article: Delphi's Sobering Message to Us All by Bill Waddell Book: Visual Workplace - Visual Thinking by Gwendolyn Galsworth |
| October 2005 | Article: Mass General Looks to Lean by George Taninecz Book: The Toyota Way Fieldbook by Jeffrey Liker |
| September 2005 | Article: Creating a Lean Culture by Bob Emiliani and David Stec Book: Lean Solutions by James Womack and Daniel Jones |
| August 2005 | Article: The Best Factory in the World Article: TIPS From Employees Sustain a Lean Journey Book: Six Disciplines for Excellence by Gary Harpst |
| July 2005 | Article: Taylor, Stopwatches and Lean Manufacturing by Bill Waddell Article: Lean is a Practice, Not a Theory (An interview with Freddy & Michael Balle) Book: The Gold Mine: A Novel of Lean Turnaround by Freddy and Michael Balle |
| June 2005 | Article: Improving Leadership in Lean Business by Bob Emiliani Article: The Problem with Creative Work and Creative Management by Jim Womack Book: Fab: The Coming Revolution on Your Desktop - From Personal Computers to Personal Fabrication by Neil Gershenfeld |
| May 2005 | Article: Hirano's Eight Conditions for Flow Production by Norman Bodek Article: Shingo's 'Know Why' Hands-On Lean by Bill Waddell Book: Lean Logistics: The Nuts and Bolts of Delivering Materials and Goods by Michel Baudin |
| April 2005 | Article: Make Work Cells Work for You by Richard Schonberger Article: RFID - Myth and Reality by Andrew Herdan Book: Energy Efficiency, Water and Waste-Reduction Guidebook for Manufacturers by National Association of Manufacturers |
| March 2005 | Article: The Fear of Change by Norman Bodek Article: Creating Basic Stability by Art Smalley Book: "The Six Sigma Black Belt Handbook by Thomas McCarty, Lorraine Daniels, Michael Bremer, Praveen Gupta All You Gotta Do Is Ask by Norman Bodek" |
| February 2005 | Article: Lean in Higher Education By Bob Emiliani Article: Six Problems with Performance Metrics By Michael Bremer Book: The Incredible Payback: Innovative Sourcing Solutions by Dave Nelson, Patricia Moody, Jonathan Stegner Book: The Lean Design Guidebook by Ronald Mascitelli |
| January 2005 | Article: A Lean Walk Through History by Jim Womack Article: Lean Six Sigma - A Perspective by Norman Bodek Book: Buying for Business: Insights in Purchasing and Supply Management by Christopher Barratt |
| December 2004 | Article: 10 Commandments of Kaikaku by Hiroyuki Hirano with comments by Norman Bodek Article: Cultivating Gemba Force by Isao Endo Book: How to Prevent Lean Implementation Failures by Larry Rubrich Book: Lean Manufacturing That Works by Bill Carreira |
| November 2004 | Article: Using Information Technology to Support New Product Development by Andrew Herdan Article: How Do You Implement Lean Across Your Company? Using Your ERP System, Of Course by Richard Artes Book: The Lean Lexicon by Chet Marchwinski and John Shook |
| October 2004 | Article: The Gemba Walk: Better quality may be just a short walk away. by Norman Bodek Article: Customer-Focused Forecasting: A Lean Secret Weapon by Richard Artes Book: The Outsourcing Revolution: How To Do It Right by Michael Corbett |
| September 2004 | Article: Lean in the Office by Michael Bremer Article: The Five Maturity Levels of Lean by Richard Artes Book: Extending the Supply Chain: How Cutting-Edge Companies Bridge the Critical Last Mile by Kenneth Karel Boyer |
| August 2004 | Article: Notes from the Manufacturing Recovery by Kevin Meyer Article: Lean Manufacturing: Fat Cash Flow (Interview with Clifford Ransom, VP, State Street Research) by Robert W. Hall Book: Just Add Management: Seven Steps to Creating a Productive Workplace by Farzad Dibachi |
| July 2004 | Article: "Lean" and the Toyota Production System by Robert W. Hall Book: Creating Level Pull by Art Smalley |
| June 2004 | Article: Offshore Outsourcing: Make Sure It's Worth It!! by R. Michael Donovan Book: Implementing World Class Manufacturing, 2nd Edition, by Larry Rubich and Mattie Watson |
| May 2004 | Article: What is Lean Accounting? by Brian H Maskell Book: Kaikaku: The Power and Magic of Lean by Norman Bodek |
| April 2004 | Article: If it Looks too Good to Be True. By Bob Emiliani and David Stec Book: Design Management: Using Design to Build Brand Value by Brigitte Borja de Mozota |
| March 2004 | Article: Defining & Achieving the Reliability Culture by Charles J. Latino Book: Reverse Logistics: Quantitative Models for Closed Loop Supply Chains by Rommert Dekker Book: Transforming Strategy into Success: How to Implement a Lean Management System by Reb Gooding |
| February 2004 | Article: Improving Your Lean Transformation By Bob Emiliani and David Stec Book: Making Materials Flow by RIck Harris, Chris Harris, and Earl Wilson Book: Kaizen Desk Reference Standard by Raphael L. Vitalo, Frank Butz, Joseph P. Vitalo |
| January 2004 | Article: Managing Supply Chains: What the Military Can Teach Business (and Vice Versa) Book: Demand Management Best Practices: Process, Principles, and Collaboration by Colleen Crum and George Palmatier Book: Reliability-Centered Maintenance: Gateway to World Class by Anthony Smith and Glenn Hinchcliffe |
| December 2003 | Article: Beyond Lean: Building Sustainable Business and People Success through New Ways of Thinking by Jamie Flinchbaugh Book: Practical Lean Accounting: A Proven System for Measuring and Managing the Lean Enterprise by Bruce Baggaley, James Leflar, Brian H. Maskell |
| November 2003 | Article: Custom Bending Company Cuts Lead Time and Boosts Productivity by Don Kivell Book: What is Lean Six Sigma? by Michael L. George |
| October 2003 | Article: Manufacturing is not in Trouble by Bruce Bartlett Book: Product Development for the Lean Enterprise: Why Toyota's System is Four Times More Productive and How You Can Implement It by Michael Kennedy |
| September 2003 | Article: Connecting Lean and Organizational Learning by Jamie Flinchbaugh Book: The Lean Extended Enterprise: Moving Beyond the Four Walls to Value Stream Excellence By Terence Burton and Steven Boeder |
| August 2003 | Article: How to Develop and Implement a Quick Changeover Program by John R. Henry Book: Value Stream Mapping: Eight Steps To Planning, Mapping, and Sustaining Lean Improvements |
| July 2003 | Article: What is the "True" Cost of Manufacturing Downtime? by Donald Fitchett Book: Identifying Waste on the Shopfloor |
| June 2003 | Article: Shift Your Plant Into High Gear by Don Penkala Book: Kanban Made Simple by John M. Gross, Kenneth R. McInnis |
| May 2003 | Article: Lean Maintenance for Lean Manufacturing By Howard C. Cooper Book: Fundamentals of Preventive Maintenance by John M. Gross |
| April 2003 | Article: The Roots of Lean Manufacturing Book: Fundamentals of Flow Manufacturing by Gerard Leone, Richard D. Rahn |
| March 2003 | Article: Lean Accounting - Beyond the Back Office By Brian Maskell Book: Accounting for World Class Operations by Jerry Solomon |
| February 2003 | Article: Collaborative Manufacturing: An Overview by Michael McClellan Book: Collaborative Manufacturing: Using Real-Time Information to Support the Supply Chain by Michael McClellan |
| January 2003 | Article: Reduce Inventories and Improve Business Performance by R. Michael Donovan Book: Supply Chain Networks and Business Process Orientation: Advanced Strategies and Best Practices by Kevin P. McCormack, William C. Johnson |
| December 2002 | Article: Integrating Lean and Six Sigma: Applying the Best of Both for Operational Excellence by Bill Lareau Book: Maximizing Your ERP System: A Practical Guide for Managers by Scott Hamilton |
| November 2002 | Article: Lean Transformation of the Widget Company By Michael S. Jordan Book: The Innovation Superhighway: Harnessing Intellectual Capital for Collaborative Advantage by Debra M Amidon |
| October 2002 | Article: Effective Accounting in a Flow Environment By Gerald Najarian Book: Henry Ford's Lean Vision by William A. Levinson |
| September 2002 | Article: Lean Is as Lean Does By Richard J. Schonberger Book: Reorganizing the Factory: Competing Through Cellular Manufacturing by Nancy Hyer, Urban Wemmerlov |
| August 2002 | Article: Culture Change Brings Sweet Dreams to Sealy Book: Achieve Lasting Process Improvement: Reach Six Sigma Goals Without the Pain by Bennet P. Lientz, Kathryn P. Rea |
| July 2002 | Article: Advanced Planning Systems as an Enabler of Lean Manufacturing by Jeffrey Liker Book: Lean Manufacturing: A Plant Floor Guide by Charles Robinson, David Stewart, John Allen |
| June 2002 | Article: Undertaking Lean Strategies in Manufacturing - Never Two the Same Book: Insights to Performance Excellence 2002: An Inside Look at the 2002 Baldrige Award Criteria by Mark L. Blazey |
| May 2002 | Article: Defining World Class Practices: An Alternative to Traditional Benchmarking that Achieves Leadership Consensus and Alignment Book: Cultivating Communities of Practice: A Guide to Managing Knowledge by Etienne Wenger, Richard McDermott, William M. Snyder |
| April 2002 | Article: Creating Lean Leaders - A Hands On Approach by Dr. William Lareau Book: Building the Awesome Organization: Six Essential Components that Drive Entrepreneurial Growth by Katherine Catlin, Jana B. Matthews, Kauffman Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership |
| March 2002 | Article: Supply Chain Management: Cracking The Bullwhip Effect (Part III) by R. Michael Donovan Book: Lean Performance ERP Management: Implementing the Virtual Supply Chain by Brian J. Carroll |
| February 2002 | Article: The Roots of Lean Manufacturing Book: All I Need to Know About Manufacturing I Learned in Joe's Garage by William B. Miller |
| January 2002 | Article: Lean and Flexible: A Way Forward for High Variety, Low Volume (HVLV) Environments By Dave Williams Book: Implementing World Class Manufacturing - A Shop Floor Manual by Larry Rubrich, Madelyn Watson |
| December 2001 | Article: The Theory of Delays (TOD) - Part II - By Vincent Bozzone Book: Manufacturing Handbook of Best Practices: An Innovation, Productivity, & Quality Focus by Jack B. ReVelle |
| October 2001 | Article: The Theory of Delays (TOD) By Vincent Bozzone Book: Future Capable Company: What Manufacturing Leaders Need to Do Today to Succeed Tomorrow by James A. Tompkins |
| September 2001 | Book: Build Your Own Garage: Blueprints and Tools to Unleash Your Company's Hidden Creativity by Bernd H. Schmitt, Laura Brown Book: The Myth of Excellence: Why Great Companies Never Try to Be the Best at Everything by Fred Crawford, Ryan Mathews |


