I have been very impressed with Steve Bell and his approach. Check out his website at www.steadyimprovement.com.
Also, you can get his book here: Amazon.com
Last week I met Scott Sorheim over the phone through a mutual friend. He has a company called Lean Technologies, and his product is called “Thrive.”
I really appreciate guys like Scott because they have passion for manufacturing and they are willing to “hang it all out there” and work on solutions.
Scott’s Blog: http://leantech.com/blog/
Lean Technologies Website: http://www.leantech.com/
As I was reading and catching up tonight, I just could not help but see the stark contrast in stories between Walgreens and General Motors.
Walgreens - Employees at This Walgreens Distribution Center Are More Able Than Disabled
http://www.evolvingexcellence.com/blog/2008/02/need-some-eager.html
General Motors - GM offers buyouts to 74,000
I know GM must do something to stop bleeding money, but it never fails that those companies that take care of their employees are healthier companies.
I am really curious to see how blogs like the the Manufit.com blog or any other social networking site for engineers, Lean practitioners, or manufacturing leaders will work out.
There is certainly some value in this phenomenon of online posting, blogging, and networking. The question is, will people find answers to questions they are asking? Will they take the time to read feeds from these sites? Who will use these site, and will they find value.
I will continue to create links to site like this as the Manufit.com blog gets going.
Check out SME’s new social network at:
https://smeconnection.leveragesoftware.com/default.aspx
Last night at dinner, the topic of unions came up. We discussed how unions were required at the time they were created to achieve fairness and safety for those working in manufacturing. However, today, fairness in wages, hours, and training are still issues, it seems the modern union exists for other reasons. We were not really sure about those reasons, but acknowledged that everyone has to change in order the stay relevant and compete.
Our conversation also reminded me of the 2007 MESA Keynote Speaker - Peter Fingar. Peter reminded us that there are 3 billion new capitalists in the world and if we did not do something everyday to improve, we would quickly be rendered obsolete.
I grew up in Connersville, Indiana, where there was once a $1B Visteon plant. This plant just closed its doors because the union and management did not work to make it one of the best plants in the Visteon fleet. If the plant had been one of the best in the fleet, chances are, it would still be making automotive parts today…
Conclusion - whether we are in automotive manufacturing, healthcare, education, or farming, we all have to work to improve everyday. If we don’t we might just end up being “mothballed” like the Visteon plant in Connersville.
