When was the last time your company improved productivity from 20 percent to 60 percent-in only four days? Or cut inventory by 50 percent in the same amount of time? Remarkable results like these were delivered by teams of employees and those who participated in the Association for Manufacturing Excellence Kaizen BlitzSM events. Using the Kaizen Blitz, employees learned how to work as a team to tackle problems from the shop floor and, most importantly, how to solve them quickly. That's what The Kaizen Blitz can teach you. Simply translated as "continuous improvement," kaizen is a highly focused process aimed at producing incremental performance improvements in narrowly targeted areas. The Kaizen Blitz is a powerful technique that delivers breakthrough improvements throughout an organization-fast. This book will show you how the Kaizen Blitz works and how to bring the extraordinary benefits of this approach to your company. Coauthored by executives of the AME, the book provides a frank discussion of what kaizen will and won't do, the preparation necessary, obstacles to be wary of, and the results you can expect. The Kaizen Blitz involves everyone across an organization-managers and workers alike. 44t is a low-cost, hands-on process, where all team members are equal and everyone gets their hands dirty. This thorough guide explains how your company can put together your own Kaizen Blitz teams to rapidly develop, test, and refine solutions to problems, leaving a new process in place in just a few days. It outlines how employees can work side by side to implement the best of their ideas for reaching common business goals, such as inventory reduction, capacity expansion, cost reduction, and leveraging capital investments. You will discover how the application of a few simple tools in a straightforward, common-sense approach can bring about real and profound change, provided that management is fully committed and ready to lead the process. In addition, the authors of this important book:* Help you determine whether your organization is ready to attempt the Kaizen Blitz* Outline what you need for an initial Kaizen Blitz project-and what to avoid* Explain why software package-driven process change has limitations* Cite results and applications in top U.S. manufacturers. If you are committed to adopting lean manufacturing; if you want an effective tool to address specific problems in your company; if you need radical change to happen now, The Kaizen Blitz will deliver beyond your highest expectations. The Association for Manufacturing Excellence has pioneered a powerful version of kaizen-a process for achieving continuous improvement in an organization-called the Kaizen Blitz.SM This book will show you how to use this remarkable tool to deliver breakthrough improvements in your company in areas like productivity, inventory reduction, capacity expansion, and much more. You'll learn how to assemble a kaizen team that will determine solutions to your company's specific problems by designing new systems, correcting mistakes quickly and moving on, running and refining procedures, and ultimately demonstrating a new process in place in just a few days. You'll also read about top U.S. manufacturers who have successfully used the Kaizen Blitz to bring about radical, positive change. If your company is ready to achieve dramatic results by implementing new processes-not just proposed, but in place and functioning-in a matter of days, the Kaizen Blitz is the way to make it happen.

COMPRESSION: Meeting the Challenges of Sustainability Through Vigorous Learning Enterprises sounds a clarion that we cannot afford to ignore. Global crises are squeezing us from all directions. Mostly they have to do with not enough: not enough natural resources to maintain our standard of living, not enough carbon rich soil to grow crops enough to feed the world, not enough fresh clean water, nor air or ozone.

A founding member of the Association for Manufacturing Excellence, Robert Doc Hall has dedicated much of his career to redefining business practices in ways that are feasible and transferable. For lasting change to occur, we need to provide stakeholders with access to new tools and new paradigms that eschew outdated learning methods. While the book does elucidate the problem, the main emphasis of its pages is on what leaders can do to change the mindset of stakeholders at all levels. Specifically, Hall shows how the Toyota model, the most successful and enduring manufacturing system ever implemented, can be applied and adapted to help identify roots of problems, eliminate waste, and create a new vision along with the path to realizing that vision.

We must rethink our perpetual devotion to old ideals such as continual growth and more are always better

We need to recognize that we are quickly reaching the point of critical mass where the inequities of society will force the have-nots to take matters into their own hands

We need to learn to learn more effectively, in terms of individuals, organizations, and processes

We must embrace the paradigm culture shift required to implement lasting constructive change that we can live by

To implement the sort of changes that will allow civilization to prevail rather than merely endure requires a resourcefulness and ingenuity beyond any the world has ever employed. In this volume, Doc Hall shows us how to learn to learn more effectively both as individuals and organizations, and in terms of processes. He invites us to rethink our perpetual devotion to old ideals and welcome the shift in thinking that must be our first and immediate step.

Stay current and become active in helping to Meet the Challenges of Sustainability Through Vigorous Learning Enterprises.

COMPRESSION: Meeting the Challenges of Sustainability Through Vigorous Learning Enterprises sounds a clarion that we cannot afford to ignore. Global crises are squeezing us from all directions. Mostly they have to do with not enough: not enough natural resources to maintain our standard of living, not enough carbon rich soil to grow crops enough to feed the world, not enough fresh clean water, nor air or ozone. A founding member of the Association for Manufacturing Excellence, Robert "Doc" Hall has dedicated much of his career to redefining business practices in ways that are feasible and transferable. For lasting change to occur, we need to provide stakeholders with access to new tools and new paradigms that eschew outdated learning methods. While the book does elucidate the problem, the main emphasis of its pages is on what leaders can do to change the mindset of stakeholders at all levels. Specifically, Hall shows how the Toyota model, the most successful and enduring manufacturing system ever implemented, can be applied and adapted to help identify roots of problems, eliminate waste, and create a new vision along with the path to realizing that vision. We must rethink our perpetual devotion to old ideals such as continual growth and more are always better We need to recognize that we are quickly reaching the point of critical mass where the inequities of society will force the have-nots to take matters into their own hands We need to learn to learn more effectively, in terms of individuals, organizations, and processes We must embrace the paradigm culture shift required to implement lasting constructive change that we can live byTo implement the sort of changes that will allow civilization to prevail rather than merely endure requires a resourcefulness and ingenuity beyond any the world has ever employed. In this volume, Doc Hall shows us how to learn to learn more effectively both as individuals and organizations, and in terms of processes. He invites us to rethink our perpetual devotion to old ideals and welcome the shift in thinking that must be our first and immediate step. Stay current and become active in helping to Meet the Challenges of Sustainability Through Vigorous Learning Enterprises. You will find action steps and discussion at compression.org

When was the last time your company improved productivity from 20 percent to 60 percent-in only four days? Or cut inventory by 50 percent in the same amount of time? Remarkable results like these were delivered by teams of employees and those who participated in the Association for Manufacturing Excellence Kaizen BlitzSM events. Using the Kaizen Blitz, employees learned how to work as a team to tackle problems from the shop floor and, most importantly, how to solve them quickly. That's what The Kaizen Blitz can teach you. Simply translated as "continuous improvement," kaizen is a highly focused process aimed at producing incremental performance improvements in narrowly targeted areas. The Kaizen Blitz is a powerful technique that delivers breakthrough improvements throughout an organization-fast. This book will show you how the Kaizen Blitz works and how to bring the extraordinary benefits of this approach to your company. Coauthored by executives of the AME, the book provides a frank discussion of what kaizen will and won't do, the preparation necessary, obstacles to be wary of, and the results you can expect. The Kaizen Blitz involves everyone across an organization-managers and workers alike. 44t is a low-cost, hands-on process, where all team members are equal and everyone gets their hands dirty. This thorough guide explains how your company can put together your own Kaizen Blitz teams to rapidly develop, test, and refine solutions to problems, leaving a new process in place in just a few days. It outlines how employees can work side by side to implement the best of their ideas for reaching common business goals, such as inventory reduction, capacity expansion, cost reduction, and leveraging capital investments. You will discover how the application of a few simple tools in a straightforward, common-sense approach can bring about real and profound change, provided that management is fully committed and ready to lead the process. In addition, the authors of this important book:* Help you determine whether your organization is ready to attempt the Kaizen Blitz* Outline what you need for an initial Kaizen Blitz project-and what to avoid* Explain why software package-driven process change has limitations* Cite results and applications in top U.S. manufacturers. If you are committed to adopting lean manufacturing; if you want an effective tool to address specific problems in your company; if you need radical change to happen now, The Kaizen Blitz will deliver beyond your highest expectations. The Association for Manufacturing Excellence has pioneered a powerful version of kaizen-a process for achieving continuous improvement in an organization-called the Kaizen Blitz.SM This book will show you how to use this remarkable tool to deliver breakthrough improvements in your company in areas like productivity, inventory reduction, capacity expansion, and much more. You'll learn how to assemble a kaizen team that will determine solutions to your company's specific problems by designing new systems, correcting mistakes quickly and moving on, running and refining procedures, and ultimately demonstrating a new process in place in just a few days. You'll also read about top U.S. manufacturers who have successfully used the Kaizen Blitz to bring about radical, positive change. If your company is ready to achieve dramatic results by implementing new processes-not just proposed, but in place and functioning-in a matter of days, the Kaizen Blitz is the way to make it happen.

COMPRESSION: Meeting the Challenges of Sustainability Through Vigorous Learning Enterprises sounds a clarion that we cannot afford to ignore. Global crises are squeezing us from all directions. Mostly they have to do with not enough: not enough natural resources to maintain our standard of living, not enough carbon rich soil to grow crops enough to feed the world, not enough fresh clean water, nor air or ozone.

A founding member of the Association for Manufacturing Excellence, Robert Doc Hall has dedicated much of his career to redefining business practices in ways that are feasible and transferable. For lasting change to occur, we need to provide stakeholders with access to new tools and new paradigms that eschew outdated learning methods. While the book does elucidate the problem, the main emphasis of its pages is on what leaders can do to change the mindset of stakeholders at all levels. Specifically, Hall shows how the Toyota model, the most successful and enduring manufacturing system ever implemented, can be applied and adapted to help identify roots of problems, eliminate waste, and create a new vision along with the path to realizing that vision.

We must rethink our perpetual devotion to old ideals such as continual growth and more are always better

We need to recognize that we are quickly reaching the point of critical mass where the inequities of society will force the have-nots to take matters into their own hands

We need to learn to learn more effectively, in terms of individuals, organizations, and processes

We must embrace the paradigm culture shift required to implement lasting constructive change that we can live by

To implement the sort of changes that will allow civilization to prevail rather than merely endure requires a resourcefulness and ingenuity beyond any the world has ever employed. In this volume, Doc Hall shows us how to learn to learn more effectively both as individuals and organizations, and in terms of processes. He invites us to rethink our perpetual devotion to old ideals and welcome the shift in thinking that must be our first and immediate step.

Stay current and become active in helping to Meet the Challenges of Sustainability Through Vigorous Learning Enterprises.

COMPRESSION: Meeting the Challenges of Sustainability Through Vigorous Learning Enterprises sounds a clarion that we cannot afford to ignore. Global crises are squeezing us from all directions. Mostly they have to do with not enough: not enough natural resources to maintain our standard of living, not enough carbon rich soil to grow crops enough to feed the world, not enough fresh clean water, nor air or ozone. A founding member of the Association for Manufacturing Excellence, Robert "Doc" Hall has dedicated much of his career to redefining business practices in ways that are feasible and transferable. For lasting change to occur, we need to provide stakeholders with access to new tools and new paradigms that eschew outdated learning methods. While the book does elucidate the problem, the main emphasis of its pages is on what leaders can do to change the mindset of stakeholders at all levels. Specifically, Hall shows how the Toyota model, the most successful and enduring manufacturing system ever implemented, can be applied and adapted to help identify roots of problems, eliminate waste, and create a new vision along with the path to realizing that vision. We must rethink our perpetual devotion to old ideals such as continual growth and more are always better We need to recognize that we are quickly reaching the point of critical mass where the inequities of society will force the have-nots to take matters into their own hands We need to learn to learn more effectively, in terms of individuals, organizations, and processes We must embrace the paradigm culture shift required to implement lasting constructive change that we can live byTo implement the sort of changes that will allow civilization to prevail rather than merely endure requires a resourcefulness and ingenuity beyond any the world has ever employed. In this volume, Doc Hall shows us how to learn to learn more effectively both as individuals and organizations, and in terms of processes. He invites us to rethink our perpetual devotion to old ideals and welcome the shift in thinking that must be our first and immediate step. Stay current and become active in helping to Meet the Challenges of Sustainability Through Vigorous Learning Enterprises. You will find action steps and discussion at compression.org