Ron C.

How do you tell the difference between the Lean Form over the Lean Substance? I never asked myself this question in the early years of my internal continuous improvement agent career. I just “went with the flow” (no pun intended), trying to practice what I learned in my Lean certification courses and what I was reading in the Lean literature. Then, after a certain period, facing a plant closure, I started wondering why the Lean promise of becoming a better business didn’t materialize…. What I realized later in my career was the fact that we were pursuing the Lean Form rather than the Lean Substance: VSM exercises without implementing the VSM action plan, heavy emphasis on 5S, more statistical analysis than changes, chasing savings. Absorption ruled, there was a heavy push to make the production targets while ignoring that the company was piling up finished goods inventory in rented warehouses, with customers buying just a fraction of that inventory… I was living the Lean Form rather than the Lean Substance, until I joined another company and met my Sensei. That was an eye opener “Oh, so this is what Lean is….” Navigating the Lean Transformation is a book that walks you through my personal lessons learned related to the Lean Form and the Lean Substance. Here’s what a Process Innovation Manager had to say about it: "I have not seen another book or article that gives such a realistic view of Lean Transformation pit falls from a “boots on the ground” view. It will be quite beneficial for practitioners who feel like they are talking to a wall when trying to address mistakes in the Lean journey with people who are unaware that mistakes are being made. I also appreciate the perspective of the book being the personal identification and acknowledgement of gaps. The humble spirit of this book will carry it far.“ Please see the comments for a preview. #lean #leantransformation #respectforpeople #continuousimprovement #leadership #lessonslearned #tangledenvironment #herdingcats 

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🎥 What Does a Supplier Quality Engineer Really Do? Forget the myths. It’s not just about audits and overseas travel. In my video, I break down the true job scope, critical skill sets, and how SQEs add massive value by: Engineering quality into the supplier's process 🔧 Driving improvement from supplier to end customer 📈 Balancing process capability with product complexity ⚙️ 🧠 Whether you're new to SQM or mentoring young engineers, this video lays out the reality—no fluff. 🔗 Watch here: https://lnkd.in/d9_mJwVR If you're in quality or supply chain, let me know your biggest SQE challenge in the comments! #SupplierQuality #SQE #QualityEngineering #SupplyChainExcellence #ManufacturingLeadership #quality

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WHO IS THE FIRST TO IMPLEMENT LEAN MANUFACTURING IN THE UNITED STATES? There are many credited with process control, implementing standard work, and driving mass assembly lines. But one person caught my attention years ago when I was restoring an antique car.  The story is about Henry Ford and his vision to reduce waste and there are 2 stories that resonate with me today to look beyond the obvious. 1)     The Ford Model A exhaust system is 1 piece and 12’ long. The exhaust systems were manufactured by a supplier in the Detroit area and Henry Ford had the purchase orders written with very specific instructions on packaging. He requested an oak shipping container be built, using very specific sourced and sized oak planks. Those planks were used in the manufacture of his Model A’s and there is actually a lot of wood in that car. Why pay for the material, when you can repurpose it from a shipping container. But Ford didn’t stop there. He repurposed the sawdust into pressed briquettes which was used in his furnaces, and this later became Kingsford Charcoal. Genius! 2)     At the River Rouge plant, the casting slag was poured into an empty lot as waste. Coming from a farming background, Henry Ford looked at waste as a failure of management. He put his people to work to figure out how to repurpose this slag. He used it as aggregate in concrete and paving.  Henry Ford’s vision drove many of the lean practices we use today. His mindset was “Waste, whether of time or material, should be eliminated” and that resonates on every shopfloor some 100 years later. Thank you Henry for your vision at a time when Toyota Production System, Six Sigma, and Lean didn’t exist.  

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The best process is minimal process. 🚀 In my latest chapter of Sanity at Scale, I explore why "more control" usually leads to "less output." We often treat organizational mistakes like injuries—we build "Scar Tissue" (bureaucracy) around them. Ten years later, the company is so covered in scar tissue it can no longer move. If you want to scale without losing your mind, you have to apply The Algorithm from Elon Musk: 1️⃣ Question every requirement. If a department (not a person) gave you the rule, it’s a ghost. Find the person. Ask "Why?" 2️⃣ Delete the process. If you aren’t adding back 10% of what you delete, you aren’t being aggressive enough. 3️⃣ Simplify first, optimize second. Never spend money making an unnecessary step "efficient." 4️⃣ Accelerate. Speed is a feature. 5️⃣ Automate last. Automating a mess just creates a faster mess. In a previous program, we stopped complaining about the "Machine of Slow" and started treating legacy processes as hypotheses. We ran experiments, gathered the data, and proved that the simpler path was actually the safer one. Stop managing the evidence of work. Start managing the work. Read the live draft of Chapter 2: The Process Paradox here: 👉 https://lnkd.in/ede3qqz2 #EngineeringLeadership #Lean #SanityAtScale #SpaceX #Innovation #AgileTransformation

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AI is today’s "lean factory floor." When lean engineering first spread, workers feared the changes meant their jobs would disappear. The best leaders got out of the office and onto the floor. They roll up their sleeves. Help muscle machines into place. Showed people they were there, in the change with them. It wasn’t just symbolism — it was reassurance. The message was: your work still matters, and TOGETHER we’re making it better. It worked. In the businesses where leaders were, y'know, actually leading? Problems surfaced faster. Ideas spread more easily. Trust grew because leadership was visible, calming fears instead of stoking them. Now, with AI reshaping how we all work, the same lesson applies. People are anxious. They wonder if AI is here to replace them. And, this time, maybe it's different, maybe some jobs will be lost. Have been lost. But that is probably not going to be the norm. Regardless, leaders can’t hide in their offices. They need to meet people where they are, and reassure them: AI is here to stay, but it’s here to help, here to make your work better, help you work faster. It's not to erase your value. Robert Greene’s “Law of Power #8” says: “Make other people come to you — use bait if necessary.” That might keep you looking powerful. But real leadership? It’s the opposite. So here’s my 8th Law of Leadership: Don’t make people come to you. Go to them, meet them where they are. Go help them see how their work still matters, and how new tools like AI can make it matter even more. Have you seen a leader ease fears in a time of change and watched the whole culture shift because of it?

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Before you spend another $1,000 on a new manufacturing tool or training program, read this...... Most factories have excellent SOPs and maintained tooling. Yet, the same quality spills, safety gaps, and missed deliveries keep returning on a loop. Why? Because you are likely applying a process fix to a pattern problem. A new software won't fix a supervisor’s low "Situational Awareness." A revised safety protocol won’t improve a team’s weak "Ethical Courage." If you don’t diagnose the subconscious behavioral patterns on your shop floor, operational failure is inevitable. Stop throwing budget at symptoms. Start measuring the traits that drive performance. Try this free behavior correction tool in manufacturing: https://lnkd.in/dM5CJ-NB #ManufacturingExcellence #OperationalLeadership #LeanManufacturing #HumanError #Traits4XL

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Most companies don’t actually have a cost problem. They have a waste visibility problem. As a Quality Engineer, I’ve seen that waste doesn't hide—it lives in plain sight. It’s in the rework pile, the "pending approval" inbox, and the excess inventory gathering dust. Lean tools aren't magic wands that slash budgets. They are spotlights. The "Hidden Factory" Example: Some Companies was obsessed with "labor efficiency." Yet, they weren't tracking the Lead Time from receiving raw material to shipping the finished product. The result? Materials sat in a warehouse for 10 days. They were processed in 2 hours. They sat in "Quality Hold" for another 5 days. The company was "efficient" at the machine level, but hemorrhaging cash in the gaps between the steps. They didn't need faster workers; they needed to see the stagnation. My Lean "Value-Add" Toolkit: VSM: To see the 15 days of waiting you didn't know existed. 5S & Kanban: To stop the chaos and overproduction. Poka-Yoke: To kill defects at the source so you stop inspecting "in" quality. Gemba Walks: Because the truth is on the floor, not the spreadsheet. The Hard Truth: Waste is rarely an inspection issue. It is almost always a process discipline issue. Lean isn't about doing more work; it’s about stopping the work that shouldn’t have existed in the first place. #LeanManufacturing #QualityEngineering #OperationalExcellence #ContinuousImprovement #AS9100D #ISO9001:2015

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Control Charts Made Simple https://lnkd.in/gDUuAfi9 Control charts don’t just show random ups and downs—they tell a story. Nelson’s 8 rules help us recognize hidden patterns that signal real process issues. 🔴 Rule 1: A single point beyond 3σ? That’s not noise—it’s an outlier screaming for attention. ⚫ Rule 2: Nine (or more) points on one side of the mean? That’s a shift in the process baseline. 📈 Rule 3: Six points in a row trending up or down? A trend is emerging, not chance. 🔄 Rule 4: Alternating up and down? Overcontrol is at play. ➡️ Rule 5: Two of three points more than 2σ from the mean? A major shift is underway. ⬆️ Rule 6: Four of five points more than 1σ away? Small shifts adding up. 📏 Rule 7: Fifteen points hugging the mean? Variation might be artificially reduced. 🔀 Rule 8: Eight points outside ±1σ with none close to the mean? A mixture of factors at work. Each of these signals points to deeper causes: raw material changes, tool wear, setup issues, or even operator skill levels. The real value lies in catching the signal before it becomes a costly problem. #Lean #SPC #ContinuousImprovement #SixSigma #LearnFast Source: Alper Ozel 👉 Follow our WhatsApp channel for hi-res PDFs, templates, and exclusive content not shared here: https://zbk.li/learnfast

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Going to GEMBA isn't just a casual walk on their floor. Rather, it carries intent. It's about developing keen observational skills and training your "shop eyes and ears", and it's routine. Build relationships. Ask questions. Solicit feedback. Take action. This list is is a great starter set of questions to do all of those things. Before you know it, you won't be able to walk through the shop without feedback and early warnings being given without much solicitation at all.

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In small companies, quality tools only work if they fit how people actually operate. When they don't, workarounds appear, timelines slip, and the QMS becomes something people avoid instead of rely on. The real difference is all about culture fit. Lightweight tools, operator-focused design, and leadership that doesn't just buy-in on paper, but actively uses the systems themselves. I break down why this matters and how “feral systems” form when tools miss the mark in my newest Substack post, check it out: https://lnkd.in/gtGAM2jr

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