Lean For Everyone

I'm Confessing My Top 5 Non-Lean Sins

 

I practice what I preach so it’s time for some old school “hansei”

AKA: Critical Self Reflection

 

 

  

 

 

1.  I’m a Piler

     I make piles and then move them around and create smaller piles:  I do this around the house and my office.  I eventually forget why I had some of the stuff  in the first place and then I throw it away.

2.  I don’t do a PDCA when I do home improvement projects

     I have 4 outstanding projects (that are at least 6 months old) where I’ve purchased the materials and I haven’t completed the work.

3.  I don’t have a place for everything

    It's hard to practice 5S and put everything in it's place when I don't know where it goes.  My stuff often turns into nomadic piles. (see #1 above)

4.  I have a small horde of useless computer parts

    These are for “Just In Case” scenarios that never seem to occur.  This outdated and useless technology is a dead end pile of inventory with no value.

5.  I went crazy at Costco

    We now have enough fluorescent lights to last 7 years .  This is the same amount of time it will take to use all the clamshell styrofoam food containers I purchased during the same visit.

I've learned one key item from my My Fitness Pal Kaizen.   When you let the world know that you're working on bettering yourself,  you discover a great deal of support from those around you and from inside yourself.

Related Article:

Lean for Health: Week 3 of MyFitnessPal.com Kaizen

Lean for Health: Week 3 of MyFitnessPal.com Kaizen

Welcome to week 3 of my weight loss Kaizen.   I've lost another 2.5 lbs and I'm  going to share a few tips and tricks if you want to perform this on yourself.

 
 

Get yourself a digital scale for weighing food, a set of measuring cups and a set of measuring spoons.

 

When 1oz of pretzels is 100 calories, you need accuracy.  At Bed Bath and Beyond, we found a  Biggest Loser ® digital scale for $19.99.  If you can get a 20% of coupon you can get it even cheaper.  With a digital scale weighing food became a very simple process.

 
 You are going to use your measuring cups and spoons for almost everything you put into your mouth, so keep them handy.  You will only need 1 set of these. You are also going to be washing these 3 times a day so refer back to our article on “Getting rid of the dish drying rack”

If you don’t know how many calories in your food then take an EDUCATED guess.

The database of foods at Myfitnesspal.com is huge.  If you can't find exactly what you ate then take an educated guess based on what you know about food and measurements.  Don't just pick the lowest calorie version of it in the system.

A "Colossal Burger ® " at Ruby Tuesday's® (1677 calories) is not the same as "generic hamburger" (331 calories) in the database.  Cheating the system is really only hurting yourself.

Kaizen your foods:  I dropped the calories in my Peanut Butter and Jelly snack by 50% while keeping the same satisfying flavor and feeling.  Try doing this with all the foods you eat.

• Week 1: PBJ on 2 toasted pieces of bread = 285 total calories
• Week 1: PBJ on 2 toasted pieces of low calorie bread = 215 total calories
• Week 2: PBJ on 1 piece of toasted low calorie bread (open face) = 180 total calories
• Week 3: PB and 1 tsp brown sugar on 1 piece of toasted low cal bread = 141 total calories

 

If you have any more questions or need a little help, motivation or just plain encouragement please connect with me at http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/LeanJon

Related Posts:

Lean for Health: I'm performing a Kaizen on myself at MyFitnessPal.com

Lean for Health: Week 1 of MyFitnessPal.com Kaizen

Lean for Health: Week 2 of MyFitnessPal.com Kaizen

Lean for the Home: Getting Rid of the Dish Drying Rack

I'm doing some more Kaizen in the home life again and eliminating more Batch and Queue steps in the Kitchen.

It's been about 4 months since we did "Lean for the Home: Loading the Dishwasher" and things are much cleaner around the right side of the sink where we used to pile the dirty dishes.  It also uncovered a new issue in our kitchen.  That we stack the hand washed dishes on the left side of the sink to air dry.

That's right, another batch and queue process where we are creating another pile of inventory.  We either:

1. Put them away after 8 to 18 hours

2. Just re-use them before they even make it into the cabinets

3. We spill something on them and have to re-wash, starting the process all over again.  

                                                                                   

Solution:  We are removing another step in our process. After hand washing we dry them by hand and put them immediately away thereby simplifying the process, decreasing the WIP (Work in Progress).  "Presto Changeo'" we have one piece flow!

 

Reflection:  The kitchen has become much cleaner, but why didn't we do this sooner?  It seems like a "no-brainer". 

Easy answer, until we cleared away the dirty dishes on the right side we didn't notice the clean dishes piling up on the left.  It's amazing how just by fixing one thing,  a light will shine on the next problem to tackle.

How to Retrieve Your Audio and Navigation System Codes: 2004 Honda Accord with Navigation System

If you're like me and made the mistake of removing the battery to replace the headlight on your 2004 Honda Accord Ex with the Navigation System and didn't know that you needed codes to get the radio and navi system working again then this blog is for you.

For you Lean Six Sigma people ..this is just another example of a Non-Lean experience.

Information you will need that I can't help you with:

Vehicle VIN Number

Phone Number and Zip Code matching those on file

I am writing this blog so in the future I will be able to easily find these directions on the web to get the codes when I need them again.  It's also going to help everyone else out there who couldn't easily find this on the web.

Fact 1:  If your battery dies or you remove your battery temporarily,  Honda has an anti theft system built into your vehicle so your radio and navi system will not work without 2 special codes.  These codes were given to you on a small plastic card when you purchased the car.  If you lost it then you will need to follow these directions to get the codes again.

Fact 2:  When a Honda dealer works on a vehicle they connect the car to a charging station to make sure the battery does not die so they don't have to go through this themselves.  it's called a memory savor and it's used to make sure all the codes and radio presets stay intact.

Fact 3:  As of today the only way to get the audio code is to call Honda directly (not the dealership).  I'll explain that shortly.

When you restart you car after re-connecting the battery your system will reboot and tell you not to shut off the engine till it loads.  This takes about 2 minutes.

 

The next image you will see is a generic key pad on your navi console.  Also the word "CODE" will appear on the upper display.

Audio Serial Number:

To get the audio codes you need to know the serial number of your radio.  Here are the simple instructions.

1. 1) To get the radio serial number. Turn the radio power off. Press and hold the "Seek" button (top) and the and the "change disc" button (top) and press the radio power on.
2. In the upper display (not the navi display) you should get a "U" and four numbers then a "L" and four numbers.
3. Ignore the U and the L and just writer down the 8 numbers (This is the serial number)

• Image of U code below

Navi Serial Number:

To get the navi codes you need to know the serial number of navi system .  Here are the simple instructions.

1. Open the trunk and write down the numbers off the bottom of the navi control unit.  They are printed on a sticker Ex (DJB25626589A)

Getting your Audio Code and Navi Code

Goto https://radio-navicode.honda.com/

1. The system will prompt you to type in your VIN, phone number on file, zipcode and the serial numbers on your radio and navi. 
2. You will then receive an output that looks like the image below (I've removed my personal info and these are fake codes but the format is the same)
3. 
4. Here's the silly part.  The Radio code is not really the radio code.  The radio code is supposed to be a 4 digit number.  You can only get the radio code by calling (800) 999-1009 (6:00 am to 5:00 pm PCT).  You will get an automated system.  Press 3 for Navigation or Security Codes.  Stay on the phone to talk to a person.  The website is essentially useless for the Radio code and does not work.
5. The operator will ask you for all the same information (VIN, Zip..etc) and he/she will be able to give you the 4 digit code.

Entering the codes in the navi system is the easiest:

1. Just use the 10 digit numerical keypad that shows up on the navi display to enter the code for the navi system.
2. 
3. You may get a screen that says your GPS is acquiring your location.  If it doesn't get the location just move your car out of your garage or just re-start it and it will try to acquire it again.  It took me 3 tries.
4. 

Entering the codes for the radio system is not as straight forward.  You will use the tune dial to enter them:

1. When you turn the Tune knob, "CODE" disappears, and a single digit is displayed. Turn the knob to select each of the anti-theft code digits that the phone operator gave you. When you press the Tune knob, the system beeps and accepts each digit as it spells out CODE on the display.
2. 
   
   
3. You have 10 tries to get it right.  After 10 tries they system will lock you our and you will need to disconnect and reconnect the battery to get another 10 tries.
4. Other websites will tell you that you just need to use the first 4 digits of the 5 digit code that the Honda website gives you.  That's WRONG.  You need the 4 digit code.  Don't be fooled like I was.

I know that I'm going to be needing this again so I hope this is as helpful for you as it will be for me. 

I did call 2 dealerships for help.  One told me that I would need the serial numbers but didn't tell me how to get them.  The other told me to bring the car in and they would have to pull the radio and navi systems to get the number.

I also spoke to customer service rep at Honda when I called to the get the radio code.  She is aware of their continuous improvement program and is going to put this in to be fixed.  She said recently that they were testing out a new 2010 model and had the same problem and had to call their own office to get the codes.  Hopefully this will be fixed soon on the web.

If this was of any help to you or I missed anything please leave a comment below. 

BTW: Here's where you can go to get the instructions on how to change the headlight

A brief review of the Michigan Lean Consortium benchmarking event hosted by DTE Energy

I attended a Michigan Lean Consortium (MLC) benchmarking event hosted by DTE Energy yesterday and I was impressed.

The Director of Continuous Improvement (CI) , Jason Schulist, gave us an overview of their improvement efforts from 1998 to present. 

The presentation was very good and I really got a idea for what their journey had been like through the past 13 years.  It gave me an understanding of DTE's philosophy and some of their "internal vocabulary."  They used a phrase I liked very much, "True North" as opposed to "Future State", to show what direction you should be moving in.

The highlight of the event was the Q&A session:

Gerry Anderson, COO, David Meador, CFO, and Jason Schulist, gave us their time to have a Q&A panel discussion for over an hour.  During this hour I was so jealous of Jason because it was very obvious that Gerry and David understood CI and the importance of it.  They live it and breath it.  They KNOW that it is one of the most important parts of their company.  To have that type of support on the top levels of leadership is what makes CI flourish at DTE.

The greatest burst of improvements  were in late 2008 to 09 when the economy turned south and DTE needed to find ways to save more money.  They essentially let the employees “off leash” to do continuous improvements:

Much of the CI efforts prior to that were decided farther up the chain and had less and less people involvement.  In 2008 DTE realized this and wanted to get the empowerment back to the workers.  The employees were “let off leash” to find ways to save money.  The results were “shocking, in a good way” said Gerry Anderson.   They found ways to save money we hadn’t even thought of.

One of the stories he related was the cost to replace the outdated consoles used to run the large generators at the plants.  To replace a console costs about $26 mil.  When the employees really studied the problem the only outdated portion was a memory module which cost $1 mil to replace.

Jason, Gerry and David all agreed that honest communication with the employees is the ONLY way to do business.  This is in addition to the engagement of leadership and commitment to people.

 

The moderator, Debra Setman, did a superb job.

After each Q&A she completed a 45 sec synopsis of the answers.  This made it much easier to listen to the Q&A and not have to take copious notes.

I was very happy that I was able to make it to this event.  It gave me insight into DTE from an executive level and a view of what true leadership in a Lean company looks like.  If they keep going "True North" I have no doubt they will get to their destination.

How the Michigan Lean Consortium is going to help fix the state through Continuous Improvement

Imagine an entire state filled with companies all dedicated to continuous improvement (CI).  That's exactly what the Michigan Lean Consortium (MLC) sees as the "Future State Map" of Michigan.

 

There are already many Michigan companies with CI programs.  Here's just a few:

DTE Energy

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan

Johnson & Johnson

Trinity Health

Battle Creek Health Systems

Saint Mary's Health Care

 

There are also companies dedicated to helping businesses understand and implement Lean, Six Sigma, and other types of CI programs:

Lean for Everyone

RWD Technologies

The Lean Learning Center

The Pawley Institute

How is the MLC going to do this? 

The excerpt below is taken right from the Michigan Lean Consortium website

"The Michigan Lean Consortium is a diverse network of knowledgeable lean professionals who come together to share innovative practices. The organization aims to create a lean culture in Michigan to ensure sustainable competitive advantage, which could translate into healthier businesses that offer more job opportunities leading to economic growth in the state.

Vision

All organizations pursue excellence to make Michigan one of the best places in the country to live, learn and earn.

Mission

Offer a diverse network to share innovative practices ensuring sustainable competitive advantage in Michigan, measured by economic, environmental and social health.

Values

• A teaching and learning atmosphere
• Cross-industry participation
• Learning facilitated by hands-on and "go-and-see" experiences
• Bias toward action, innovation and experimentation
• Cultural transformation
• Customer needs
• Broad and diverse participation
• Measurable results
• Networking"
 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I believe in this mission and am a member of the MLC.

If new and emerging companies can learn about Lean while in their infancy and older companies can embrace the change and transition to a workplace of continuous improvement,  then Michigan will quickly become "The place to work" in all the 50 States.

Lean for Health: Week 2 of MyFitnessPal.com Kaizen

We've now reached Week 2 of my weight loss Kaizen and:  I don't have cravings, I'm exercising regularly and I fell off the wagon for only 1 day.  I can also "eyeball" a tablespoon of Ranch salad dressing and I'm down another 4 lbs.

 

Use of Metrics: I use calories as the only visual control metric on my log but I am keeping an eye on carbs, fats and proteins.  I've now also added cholesterol and fiber onto my log.

 

I know that I won't be using My Fitness Pal forever so I need to educate myself on food.  By seeing the nutritional information (carbs, fats, etc...) on 100% of what I eat for the next several weeks, I'll learn what is good, bad and terrible for me.  This will allow me to make better choices, especially when I'm not eating at home.

Use of Reports: The report functions on the site are very basic and not very useful.

You can only generate reports on one metric at a time (calories, proteins, etc...) and there is no export function for the report.  To share with others your only option is a print or screen capture of the graph on your computer.  I think they need to make this more robust so I could share this info with friends, a doctor or a nutritionist if I wanted to.

Make It Visual Make It known:

The system makes it easy to add widgets to you blog or website to show your progress. 

You can choose badges or weight loss tickers to show how well you are doing.  I love this part of the application because it makes it easy to display your progress to others.  I've even added one to the front page of my blog to help me.

I could use a little help from YOU!

I hope to have more to report next week about the community forums and recipes that are also on this website.  Currently I have 1 friend connected to my profile.  If anyone out there is using Myfitnesspal.com I would love to have a few more friends to help with the motivation.  Connect with me at http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/LeanJon

Related Posts:

Lean for Health: I'm performing a Kaizen on myself at MyFitnessPal.com

Lean for Health: Week 1 of MyFitnessPal.com Kaizen

 

Lean Lessons from This American Life: The NUMMI Story

With the closing of NUMMI on April 1st, 2010, radio program "This American Life" gives us a one hour history of the Toyota/GM automotive plant that should have changed the car industry in the US and why it didn't.

For those of you not familiar with "This American Life" and it's host Ira Glass, you are in for a treat.  The rest of you will be as enraptured with his narrative as usual.

NUMMI (New United Motor Manufacturing Inc.) was a joint venture between Toyota and GM to build cars together in Fremont, CA.

Toyota wanted to learn how to build cars in the US utilizing US workers, US management and get a better understanding of how US suppliers operated.  GM wanted to learn how to build small compact cars and how Toyota's TPS (Toyota Production System) worked.  TPS is the reason Toyota became such a dominate force in the industry so quickly and GM wanted to gain knowledge from their partnership.

I believe listening to this radio program is very important for anyone interested in understanding change from the workers point of view at NUMMI.

The GM- Fremont facility was originally closed in 1982 because it was deemed the worst plant that GM had.  It was filled with workers who would gamble, drink, have sex and do drugs while they were working in the plant.

How did this plant, when it reopened as NUMMI in 1984 with 85% of the same workforce, turn out some of the highest quality cars in the US?   And why did it close down recently?

You'll just have to listen to find out.

Click HERE:  The NUMMI Story *This is a radio program...no video will be running

Lean for Health: Week 1 of MyFitnessPal.com Kaizen

I've completed my first week of Kaizen using MyFitnessPal.com.  From this experience,  I now know that I drink a lot of coffee and eat a lot of popcorn.  Oh, and I also lost 3 pounds so far.

 

 

Use of Metrics: I didn't realize how powerful this would be when I started. As a result of metrics or tracking, I now know exactly how many calories I'm ingesting every day and where those calories are coming from.  This is such an important piece of info because I can now rank my foods in order to decide what I'm going to eat and when I'm going to eat it. I also know that 1 strawberry tastes the same as 5 and that sugar has fewer calories then I thought.

Visual Controls:  Knowing my calorie count and seeing it in the green is helpful...knowing that YOU readers also can check up on me at http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/LeanJon is keeping me honest.

 

Putting my goal out there and keeping my metrics visible to everyone is extremely helpful.  There were times that I didn't want to type in my foods and just give up. However, because everything is public,it helped me stay on course and keep it up.  I know this is the right thing to do and I'll be healthier in the long run. Nevertheless, the threat of self induced public shame is also a helpful motivator.

As for MyFitnessPal.com itself I haven't spent much time on it other then entering info into my Food Diary.  It does have a lot of other features like tracking protein, cholesterol, sugar and about 15 other nutritional items. It also has support groups, forums and reports you can generate for better information.  I'll speak more about the reporting functions later after I've entered in more data.

I'm looking forward to the next update to share what I've learned.  Also on a side note my wife K. is the one who got me started on this trend and she just weighed in yesterday. She is currently down 10 lbs since starting 4 weeks ago.  She's an amazing woman and I thank her with all 222.5 lbs of me that's currently left.

Related Posts:

Lean for Health: I'm performing a Kaizen on myself at MyFitnessPal.com

Lean for Balloons: Kaizen for Twisters

This weekend I attended the Fellowship of Christian Magicians convention.  A place where balloon twisters, face painters, magicians and jugglers gather to learn, share and exchange ideas.  Did I mention that I had a fantastic time!!!

I'm a balloonist and love to twist, this past weekend I got to work with some of the best in my trade: Andrew McDonald, John Holmes, Joe White and Steve Raeburn just to name a few.  I even took a class on juggling clubs,  which I plan to become more proficient at.

The seminars and workshops were all a great mix of learning and sharing.  Later in the evening we were all invited to attend a jam session at a local hotel where there was even more activity.           

Lion Head by Andrew McDonald www.macpump.org

During the jam, magicians showed how they do some of their tricks to colleagues and the balloonists were swapping ideas, while trying to improve creations.  A group of face painters showed each other ideas in order to quickly add and remove paint from skin.

We were all sharing best practices of what we learned,  not just in our craft but also how we would deal with large crowds, eager children and the occasional uncomfortable situation.

Andrew McDonald  with his own creation www.macpump.org

 

One of the best treats for me was the key note speaker, Randal Munson, who spoke about Innovation and Creativity. He addressed how to keep it alive where you work and in your everyday life.  I highly recommend hiring him for you next event!!

This was a weekend of continuous improvement for me,  not just for my balloon twisting but also on a personal level.   The interaction, communication and sharing with others has made me eager for more of the same.  Every six weeks a group called the Michigan Twisters meet to share ideas just like this.  You can bet I will be there again soon.

Lean is everywhere...even when you're having fun!

  Fairy by unknown artist

UPDATE:  I've launched my own twisting site at Smiling Bald Balloons