Course Description: Kaizen is a term coined by the Lean transformation discipline to mean continuous improvement across all silos and all levels of staff. Kaizen, a Japanese word, is translated as change (“Kai”) for the better (“Zen”) and refers to daily small improvements and adjustments that collectively add up to ground-breaking excellence. In this course […]
BBSLOE: Kaizen and why it’s important in the Laboratory Read More »
The goal of this assignment is to gain the skill for developing a simplistic Value Stream Map (VSM) by adapting the lessons you’ve learned in this module. Your assignment must describe a familiar wasteful process. Your VSM can be applied to a work related issue or making breakfast in your kitchen: The actual data is necessary to calculate cycle time,
BBMSL Assignment: Development of a Value Stream Map Lab Read More »
Standard Work is one of the fundamental concepts in Lean—without standard work, any gains will be short-lived. Taiichi Ohno said that, “Where there is no standard, there can be no Kaizen.” Standard work and Kaizen work hand-in-hand to continuously and iteratively drive improvement, but more about that in a minute. First, we need to define Standard work. There are a number of
BBMSL A3: Standardize the Process Read More »
We will discuss planning the event in alignment with strategic goals and objectives of the organization. Organization of the Kaizen event includes planning, scheduling and sending invites in advance in order to accommodate a variety of schedules. The event invite may include: leadership, managers, experts and knowledgable staff. There is 3 factors of importance to
BBSLOE Lecture: Planning the Kaizen Event- Part I Read More »
The most simplistic approach to begin the VSM process is to develop a list. What are the 5-7 high level steps of specimen collection? OR what are the steps to your specific process? Once we brainstorm the entire high level process, we can begin to focus on the problem area(s). From the specimen collection steps
BBSLOE Lecture: Developing the Current State Part I: VSM Read More »
Course Description: Value Stream Mapping (VSM) is a Lean concept, tool and method to analyze the current state of a process at a 10,000 foot view. This exercise is important to execute before actual change can take place. Through this course you will learn the concept of Value Stream Mapping and based on your laboratory workflow, you
Value Stream Mapping in the Laboratory. Why is this concept important? Read More »