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[theideasmith]

Where to start with Hoshin Kanri in a not-yet-lean company?

 A mid-sized manufacturing company is finalizing its strategic plan and believes that it is time to begin Hoshin Kanri. The company is not currently operating as a Lean Enterprise -- functional silos create significant amount of waste which results in poor product/service quality and high cost to serve. Additionally, different departments and regions of the company are "pulling in different directions." What advice, resources, and lessons learned can you provide to the managers of this company to successfully organize and deploy Hoshin?

Thanks Joel for your question, I think it is one that many can benefit from. Based on my experiences with various industry I feel that this is a key area that is often discounted, and somehow organizations think through osmosis that the people just somehow know what they should be doing on a daily basis that cascades upward to “something” but not always a defined strategic business plan. I often ask the organizations I visit what their true north is and/or business indicators and to my surprise a common response is the”deer in headlight” look. If they do respond, most have a different interpretation of what it is, and how it pertains to their particular department and their role in it. Most people, unfortunately, react each day and all the standard work they know is to create a “work-around”.

For me personally, I’m not sure there is a specific “secret recipe” that meets the needs of every organization instructing them in a “standardized-linear- or a “cookie cutter” approach, as to when the different aspects of Lean thinking should take place within their journey. Many would like me to wave a wand and I truly wish it was that simple, I do tell them “it is simple, it’s just not easy”. I personally feel that each company has to create what is best for them, translate each business goal and ensure there is buy-in and understanding along the way as to why we are implementing certain tools that allow us to think and do business differently that meets customer need. The more direction you can give your people “vertically and horizontally” across the organization sets people up for success because it creates a line of sight that cascades the business goals from a 500 foot level up (process) to the 50,000 foot level (company true north). So vertically cuts upward to the CEO level to the process level and horizontally cuts across all the functional areas, this thinking is how you begin to bring the directional arrows upward to a true north versus the power point slide we have all seen with arrows going aimlessly in many directions with no rhyme or reason. I tend to call it “seeing through the same lens”. this process can drastically change the way you do business and create an internal infrastructure that fosters the develop of people and their role in the company. When you have these “quote” – silos, you tend to hear the words “we and they” versus “US”, US implies teamwork and direction that allows the value stream from order to customer flow with the best success for value added processes and development of people.

It has been my experience even within Toyota that all functional areas naturally have silos, it was an accepted aspect of our culture because we all had different roles and expertise we were asked to perform. As long as we knew the expectation and tried each day to work towards better processes of our internal and external customers then there was no problem with silos. Where it becomes dysfunctional is when there is an internal competition for blame when something isn’t meeting expectations or a cohesiveness within the silos to find root cause as a group. I jokingly refer to it as the “5 who’s and the root blame”. For example, manufacturing, engineering, accounting, and human resources are all natural silos and have their specific processes that “should” support the greater good of the organization. Again by nature this will happen and this is perfectly acceptable as long as each functional area has a directional goal towards a “true north” or vision that has cascading key performance indicators (KPI’s) such as quality, safety, productivity (delivery), cost, and human resources training and development. (Q, S, P, C, S, HRTD). So if there was business goals such as improve cost by 10% across the organization then I was taught to look at it in the following way at my time at Toyota and also how I try to guide organizations to think in regard to your question above. If this process is explained and rolled out properly with buy-in it avoids the dysfunction described above.

So the process I was taught by my trainers was the plant (TMMK) was given the Hoshin Kanri goals from our North American headquarters which was driven by Japan’s (TMC) goals (KPI’s) for us. Each plant in the U.S. was then given their yearly KPI’s (Q, S, P, C, HRTD); once the plant got those then it began to cascade downward with an understanding within each department how to meet those needs in order to meet the plant needs. I often thought of it or refer to in my sessions as “getting a finger on the pulse” in any area at any time through visualization/visual management of what should be happening versus the current state. More simply put- Plan versus Actual. So if cost was a focus each department looked at their cost and cascaded that downward to each group within that department, so for me that was the Plastics department cascading it down to my headliner group. Once I had the goal for my group I cascaded it downward to the teams within my group and then by process. So to try to visualize this based on how we were taught to cascade the goals in a “catch ball” viewpoint- take a look at the example:

50,000 foot level – Global goals

25,000 foot level – North American goals

10,000 foot level – Plant goals

5,000 foot level – Department goals

2,500 foot level – Group goals

1,000 foot level – Team goals

500 foot level – Process goals

This is what creates the line of sight to the Strategy deployment (Hoshin Kanri) based on what the customer needs us to be and how we raise the bar on ourselves at each of these levels 1-3-5 yrs out. I often ask several questions along the way from the process to the company goals that help me and others “link” themselves to the KPI’s.

What is my role in the organization?

What is my direct work responsibility with that role?

What is my jobs purpose?

What are the business goals that guide my jobs purpose?

What is the company’s goals (true north) that I’m contributing to?

This is kind of a individual check and balance process to ensure that people understand that they are an integral part of the process that allows the silos to work together as a team understanding how each are a very important piece of the entire pie that creates the recipe for success. If my true north states (an example) – Customer first attitude, with the highest Quality, at the lowest Cost, with the shortest lead-time (P), in the Safest Manner, all while respect all their people (HR). Notice this encompasses all the KPI’s and allows each person in regard to their area (or silo if you prefer that), know where they are in regard to the expectations. If you truly look at the value stream to the order to customer process and align the horizontal and vertical aspects of your organization then its a perfect countermeasure for creating an infrastructure (culture) that breaks down the silo thinking and can truly align the organization if you have the discipline and accountability to focus on processes versus 100% just results. I truly do not believe you have to be totally Lean to implement this thinking, if anything it will begin to guide you to asking specific questions and start to develop problem solvers at each level because processes start to become defined. It is a slow trickle effect that can give you small successes to gain consensus that this is a successful way to think and do business. It’s ALL about people and fostering their ability to think we just have to give them guidance, and coaching daily reminding them of their line of sight to the business goals. Simple huh?

To know more about how The Idea Smith lean principles and PDCA methodology can help your company improve profitability by reducing lead times, costs and wastes while increasing throughput and customer satisfaction , get in touch .    

[theideasmith]

The assembly cell was installed and running in our Mexican factory.  We had used the Production Preparation Process (3P) to design this Improved Junction Box assembly area and were happy to see our hard work and ideas in practice.  We had a compact U-shaped cell with right-sized equipment and low-cost automation. 

Machines had no changeover or were designed for single-second-exchange-of workstation (SSEWS) to allow mixed production and level flow.  Operator’s stations were ergonomically designed and had quality, error-proofing, and safety built-in.   Operators, material handlers, and supervisors were following standard work.  Cross training and improvement activities were happening as planned.  Then the plant manager informed me that this was the least profitable area in his plant.

We had designed this cell to minimize waste.  Both capital expense (CapEx) and operational costs were minimized while building in flexibility and scalability for future volume changes and variation in day to day or weekly demand.  I had to understand the metrics and measures used by the plant manager and the accounting department.  The profit and loss (P&L) statement should show this was a real money-maker for the company. In the process design we tried to find the balance between CapEx and headcount.   Everything could be automated, but not everything should be automated.   We were able to eliminate almost $800,000 from equipment costs by removing automated powered conveyors and integrated machinery and add a couple operators.  Over the five year life of the program the reduction in capital, combined with the cost of capital, justified more than twice the operators we had added.  The lower CapEx meant we were able to quote a lower price and win the business.  All the capital saved was not a concern for the plant manager, all he was accountable for was operational costs, and more headcount meant more costs. Headcount was an expense, but the area should still be very profitable because of the other improvements.  The machines were designed for robustness, simplicity, and maintainability.  They needed a minimum of spare parts (MRO), maintenance support, and utilities.  The products required electro-static discharge (ESD) protection including carbon sub-floors, temperature control, humidity control, and dust filtration.  By designing a cell that minimized space, the operational costs of $1400 per square meter per month should be minimized.  Using less space avoided additional lease or construction that would have been needed in the future for new business or warehouse activities.  All the cost reductions and cost avoidance should more than offset the cost of the additional operators. Allocation of overhead by product line was assigned based on headcount.  The utilities, maintenance, shop supplies and repair parts (often referred to as Maintenance, Repair, and Overhead or MRO), and other items were all charged against the area regardless of actual usage.  The natural gas furnace had one operator, and my assembly area had ten operators.  The allocation, or the area’s share of this overhead, was ten times that of the oven area, even though our process did not consume any natural gas except space heating.  The assembly line that was highly automated, consumed tremendous amounts of electricity, had five employees, and occupied 1,000 m2, was allocated half the electricity costs compared to my area with its many simple, or even manual, machines in 100 m2.  The allocation model assumed that if the area had one tenth of the operators in the factory, than it had consumed one tenth of the MRO crib, and one tenth of the hours of the maintenance and quality departments, and every other source of overhead cost. This assembly area was making the rest of the factory look good, even if the current accounting methods made that area look below average.  We won the business because Lean allowed us to quote the most competitive price, the low inventories improved cash flow, and the area was absorbing two to four times more of the overhead costs than it consumed.  The assembly area was making the other areas look better than they were.  The allocation model should be revised, and value stream accounting should be implemented to accurately see the profits generated from the area, but Lean, built into the process from the very beginning, was delivering profits every day to the factory, and to the company.

By Robert Simonis Senior Consultant, Manufacturing and Operations KCE Consulting LLC

[theideasmith]

5 steps to Quick Changeover

A Quick Changeover reduction initiative can be performed through a larger Lean Six Sigma project following the DMAIC roadmap or through a series of smaller and focused Kaizen events.

While every Quick Changeover reduction initiative needs to be customized to the specific situation, most initiatives follow the seven basic steps described below.

1. Observe the current Changeover Process

I find it often very helpful to start a Quick Changeover reduction initiative by actually videotaping the major activities currently performed during the changeover process and to review the video with the improvement team.

The key outputs of this first step are to document each step of the changeover process, as well as determine the cycle time of each step and for the entire changeover process. A simple Excel spreadsheet will normally be sufficient to document the results of this and the following steps.

2. Separate the Internal and External Activities

Once the team has a clear understanding of the key activities involved in a changeover, each step needs to be classified using one of the following three categories.

Waste – Activities which do not add value to the changeover or setup

Internal - Activities that can only be performed while the equipment is shut down

External - Activities that can be performed without shutting down the equipment

The results will be documented in the same spreadsheet created in Step 1.

3. Convert (where possible) Internal Activities into External Activities

During this step, the team identifies internal changeover activities, means activities that are currently performed while the equipment is shut down, that can be converted into external activities, means they can be performed before or after the equipment shutdown. This can include, organizing all the tools needed for the changeover or pre-assembling of tools prior to the equipment shutdown.

4. Streamline and simplify the remaining Internal Activities

SMED_Image_3In Step 4 the team focuses on those activities that currently need to be performed during the equipment shut down, means the internal activities, and develops solutions to simplify or speed up those activities.

Examples include,

it is only the last turn of a bolt that tightens it - the rest is just movement (waste)

usage of quick-release fasteners instead of bolts and nuts

usage of stoppers to quickly position jigs

usage of locating pins and holes to eliminate time consuming adjustments

5. Streamline and simplify the External Activities

In Step 5 the team focuses now on the external activities, means activities that can be performed before or after the equipment shut down, and develops solutions to simplify or speed up those activities.

Examples include the usage of specially designed cart to organize tools, the usage of overhang mechanisms to handle heavy jigs or the training of line operators to perform specific changeover tasks.

5S Visual Workplace Organization

6. Document and implement the new Changeover Process

Once a new and improved Changeover Process has been established, it needs to be properly documented, all employees involved need to be trained, and a new baseline for the new reduced total changeover time needs to be established.

7. “Do it all again”

Based on our experience, it is not uncommon for an organization to reduce changeover time by 30 – 50% after a successful changeover reduction project or a series of smaller Kaizen events.

To know more about how The Idea Smith lean principles and PDCA methodology can help your company improve profitability by reducing lead times, costs and wastes while increasing throughput and customer satisfaction , get in touch .

[theideasmith]

Falling crude and its impact on your business.

Crude oil is a mixture of hydrocarbons that exists as a liquid in natural underground reservoirs and remains a liquid when brought to the surface.

Petroleum products are produced from the processing of crude oil and other liquids at petroleum refineries, from the extraction of liquid hydrocarbons at natural gas processing plants, and from the production of finished petroleum products at blending facilities.

Petroleum is a broad category that includes both crude oil and petroleum products.  The terms oil and petroleum are sometimes used interchangeably.

The process of manufacturing

polyester

is fascinating. It is an artificial man-made fiber.

Polyesters are manufactured from petroleum from which the constituent acids and alcohols are derived.

There are three steps in the synthesizing of polyester.

Condensation Polymerization: When acid and alcohol are reacted in a vacuum at high temperatures it results in condensation polymerization. Once the polymerization has occurred the material is extruded onto a casting trough in the form of a ribbon. Once cool, the ribbon hardens and is cut into chips.

Melt-spun Fiber: The chips are dried completely. Hopper reservoirs are then used to melt the chips. A unique feature of polyester is that it is melt-spun fiber. The chips are heated, extruded through spinnerets and cools upon hitting the air. It is then loosely wound around cylinders.

Drawing: The fibers consequently formed are hot stretched to about five times their original length. This helps to reduce the fiber width. This fiber is now ready and would into cones as filaments. It can also be crimped and cut into staple lengths as per requirements

​B​etween July 2014 and January 2015

the price of oil plunged over 55%.  

52 week high $107 and Low $ 42.00​. Current $ 47.50​

Analysis ​S​ince the year 2000 we have seen the emergence of an oscillatory pattern in oil price volatility. Moreover, it has been suggested that the mechanism driving this oscillation is a teetering imbalance between oil supply and demand that was set in motion when global production reached a plateau in the mid-2000s.Causes​​

T​he fall in the price of oil originates from a power play by the Saudi Arabian elite and the US government. The Saudis want to squeeze out new production in the world as OPEC crumbles. Also one of the major new streams of oil flooding the market comes from the

American shale oil revolution.

Market analysis shows that the new price levels of oil are caused by the simple mechanism of supply and demand. Globally, the 2014 slower economic growth in Europe and China took capacity planners and market makers by surprise; the developed world's drive to decrease carbon emissions is finally having an impact on the oil market through greater energy efficiency. Demand for oil declined unexpectedly in 2014.

An end to conflict and years of reconstruction brought major oil and gas suppliers in Libya, Algeria, Iran and Iraq back to the market in 2014. The rapid expansion of tar sands supplies from Canada and shale oil in the USA squeezed suppliers such as Nigeria and Venezuela out of the US market. The world's largest producers of oil – the USA, Russia and Saudi Arabia each had financial needs that prevented them from reducing production. Thus, there was no cut in production to match a fall in demand and the market became over supplied, causing a fall in prices.

Trends

The simplest explanation for the slump in oil prices is it falls in line with an established multi-year pattern that is being driven by supply and demand. The oil crash of 2014 was the most recent manifestation of a tidal ebb and flow in oil price volatility that has occurred every three years or so since at least the mid 2000s.

Possible Scenario

The mechanism by which a fall in the price of oil could trigger a collapse in the stock market lies in the financial devices used to fund oil exploration and exploitation throughout the world, and particularly in the United States. Modern oil exploration is financed through a range of methods including issuance of shares to increase capital, and raising debt through bonds and bank loans.

A shale oil well operating through hydraulic fracturing can cost $9 million to get into production. When oil was hovering close to $100 per barrel, banks were more than willing to finance billions of dollars worth of oil exploration projects. As far as banks were concerned these loans were backed by tangible assets and considered low-risk. It was (almost) like printing money. A price of $80 per barrel was seen as a floor in the profitability of shale oil. This took an average break-even price of $70 per barrel, plus a $10 margin for financing costs.

Today with oil under $50, many producers lose $20 for every barrel produced and will likely default on these loans, as outlined in last month's Falling Oil Price Slows US Fracking article. This loss will be passed to the banks that made the loans, as it happened with the housing sector in 2008.

A telltale sign of this is the recent 20% fall of high yield corporate bonds since this summer which follow very closely the fall in crude oil prices. Many investors are afraid of defaults in the high-yield market due to over-lending to the energy sector and are indiscriminately selling off "junk bonds." The downside of this corporate bond selloff across the board is that less favorable financing options will be available for other sectors, which in turn will spread the slowdown to the rest of the economy.

Simple mathematics reduces a credit-worthy company to bankruptcy – for example a company with a market capitalization of $50 million owing $9 million suddenly becomes a bad risk when its total value dives to $10 million thanks to the sudden switch from profit to loss caused by the fall in the price of oil. A loss of profitability causes a loss of share value – pension funds and investment houses have seen billions wiped off the value of their investments in a matter of a few months. The knock on effect of loss of value then permeates to the banking and insurance sectors, causing the value of stock in those companies to fall.

Not all shale oil exploitation was financed by loans and bonds. Derivatives have played a part, too and many of the main players in the fracking business have their prices set in futures contracts all the way into 2016. The holders of these obligations to buy will be in serious trouble if the oil price does not turn around by mid-2015 when many of these contracts fall due.

The major Wall Street banks hold a total of $3.9 trillion worth of commodities contract, the bulk of which are based on oil and were written when oil seemed to be destined to remain above $80 per barrel. If the price of oil stays below $80, America's biggest financial institutions will have to beg – once again – the Fed (and the taxpayer) for help.

In addition to those companies that drill for oil and those that finance them, there is a large industrial sector supplying tools, chemicals and equipment to the oil industry and the value of shares in those companies will tank as oil production winds down. Major index component companies, such as GE and Halliburton will see a loss of business and an inability to cover investments and loans in their oil industry divisions. These financial shortfalls will affect dividend payments or force them to sell otherwise profitable divisions to cover their losses. When the value of index component companies falls, all index-linked investment funds fall into losses. Managers of these funds usually sell off profitable assets to meet their obligations. A sudden shortfall of cash caused by an unexpected fall in the oil price could then trigger a sell off on Wall Street in which case the price of all shares would drop under an urgent rush to sell.

Should energy loans start to default, we may be looking at a snowballing effect in the order of the 2008 banking crisis with a caveat: low oil prices do help reduce the cost of transportation and services and may be a blessing in disguise for the economy. However this plays out, our FFT analysis illustrates that volatility is on the cards. Fasten your seatbelts for a bumpy ride, and keep an eye open for opportunities.

As Warren Buffett once said: "Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful."

​Polyester is Oil in Fabric form. It is vital to benchmark the prices of Polyester fabric in context to the crude price prevalent in the particular month, Also if you hold stocks in any Oil and Power and support companies now is the time time to Exit. Or short. This simple exercise will give showcase clinically the price that is and the price that should be.

Happy hunting.

Nimish Dave. ​

To know more about how The Idea Smith lean principles and PDCA methodology can help your company improve profitability by reducing lead times, costs and wastes while increasing throughput and customer satisfaction , get in touch .    

[theideasmith]

Guidelines for Fast Lean Transformation

One of the most common mistakes that companies make when embarking on a lean program is trying to do too much at once. These “boil-the-ocean” initiatives are long, costly and often end up stalling under the weight of their own ambition.

The fact is, smaller and faster can be better when it comes to lean. One thing we’ve consistently seen in our work with manufacturers is what a huge impact a quick plant “health check” and a few focused changes can have on cost and performance. Companies can see major savings in specific areas in just a few weeks. The key is to pick the right improvement levers by taking the time to quantify the value they could deliver, weigh the trade-offs, and choose only the top three or four priorities to tackle immediately.

Sounds simple, right? The problem is that many companies either don’t take the time or don’t have the analytical skills needed to look cross-functionally, dig deep, find the underlying cost drivers, quantify the improvement opportunities and evaluate the trade-offs. Once they bring these diagnostic skills to the table, they can see the potential big wins.

Clarity on the payoff is a critical first step, but sometimes even when the source of problems and the financial upside of addressing them are clear, no action is taken. There may be too many competing priorities, not enough manpower, limited access to the capital needed to get the ball rolling, or just plain inertia. Other times companies think they’ve already done all they can to reduce waste, cut costs, and improve efficiency, so they don’t bother to look any further. For example, one manufacturer we worked with cut costs so deeply that it assumed its people had to be more productive. But by simply observing the crew and their activities on the production line, we saw just the opposite — too much downtime, wasted effort and inefficient work habits. The company’s lean efforts simply hadn’t gone far enough.

In addition to the above, there are often “hidden” costs that — by definition — aren’t immediately visible, especially in complex global production networks. One company had a continuous improvement program underway and thought it was quite lean. But a cost comparison across its network of plants revealed a multi-million dollar cost gap between the top and bottom performers. By doing a deeper analysis of underlying cost drivers such as scale, efficiency, overhead, and logistics, the company gained new insights into why some plants and geographies performed so much better than others — and what high-impact areas to tackle for greater savings.

Based on our experience, the best opportunities for quick improvements in manufacturing costs and performance typically lie in five key areas:

Equipment — By reducing machine downtime, improving maintenance and boosting overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) and output

Processes — By standardizing work, cutting out low-value steps, optimizing work flow and improving line staffing

Material yield — By reducing loss from scrap and obsolescence

Logistics — By boosting warehouse productivity and minimizing freight costs

Inventory — By right-sizing, rethinking levels of buffer stock, streamlining material flows and improving demand forecasts

Although these categories are quite broad, the key is to focus sharply on a small number of specific levers in a few high-impact areas of the plant. Interestingly, at virtually every company we work with, the biggest opportunities for quick wins are in overall equipment effectiveness (OEE), line staffing, and scrap reduction — probably because these areas are easy to analyze, can be changed without a major capital investment, and almost always have room for improvement no matter how much attention has been paid to them in the past.

Just observing a plant’s operations can deliver “aha” moments that lead to real insight and simple fixes. For instance, at an industrial products manufacturer with a one-operator-per-line set up, we noticed that the line operators were walking around a lot and doing things that seemed to add little value. This excessive movement was a clear red flag. By reorganizing the work flows and slightly modifying the production lines so the work area was more concentrated, the manufacturer was able to assign each operator two lines instead of one —reducing labor costs by about 40 percent.

Another quick, simple fix with a big payoff was at the factory of an automotive company. The tip-off there was seeing parts and materials sitting on the floor, where they often ended up getting damaged by forklifts or workers before they could be used. The manufacturer saved millions of dollars per year simply by designating a section on the shop floor for this inventory, creating racks to move it off of the floor and putting guardrails around it to protect it from damage.

But sometimes the problems aren’t so obvious. In these cases, a deep analysis often reveals a very counterintuitive solution. For instance, we were looking into a manufacturer’s warehouse operations. The warehouse had slotted its SKUs in a way that seemed to make sense — the high-volume movers were closest to the main doors. Unfortunately, this layout actually resulted in congestion, interference and delays. By creating a “heat map” showing relative areas of activity throughout the warehouse in a typical week, we were able to reorganize the layout and traffic patterns to make better use of the space. These changes shortened movement and transit times by 20 – 25 percent overall.

If new best practices such as these are shared among all of a company’s factories, a multiplier effect often takes hold and costs can drop substantially across the whole production network. The right metrics and incentives can ensure that this sharing happens. Again, small changes and big results.

Done right, a “fast lean” approach can generate major savings and be a catalyst for a larger lean transformation, even funding it. To get started, we would suggest companies keep in mind four simple guidelines:

Prioritize opportunities based on time to results, relative effort and financial impact

Focus scarce resources on top priorities to generate quick wins

Develop a coordinated effort within and across plants to rapidly surface and adopt best practices

Create an environment that rewards speed and an acceptable level of risk taking

If a broader lean program is already underway, this approach can turbo-charge it and increase momentum. There’s nothing more invigorating to an organization than fast, visible performance improvements that people can see and touch — and that hit the bottom line.

To know more about how The Idea Smith lean principles and PDCA methodology can help your company improve profitability by reducing lead times, costs and wastes while increasing throughput and customer satisfaction , get in touch .

[theideasmith]

4 Things Quality Leaders Should Know About Document Management

Quality professionals recognize that conformance and harmonization of an Enterprise Quality Management System (QMS) begins with a solid document management foundation. But the reality is, most organizations are drowning in documentation—which is why there’s no surprise that document management remains at the very top of quality management processes that have been automated by organizations.

Such capabilities in Enterprise Quality Management Software (EQMS) are commonplace, often tightly coupled with training and competence feature-sets, providing an escape from the stagnant and difficult-to-maintain multiple binder, shared directory or 1-dimensional intranet page approach. Often, it is the case that implementing a document management solution without consideration of overlap with/from additional processes, disciplines (e.g. EHS), upstream and downstream value chain and even the organization as a whole can mean potentially ignoring a huge opportunity for improvement. Quality leaders have a responsibility to provide the most efficient and effective solution for managing this challenging and often difficult-to-tame beast. In this post, we’re going to take a look at core functionality and considerations that will help an organization evaluate functionality and get the most from its existing or planned deployment. Four primary considerations are below.

1. Speed and ease of access and consumption for document stakeholders This is the most pervasive problem with document repositories—finding the right document at the right time in an efficient manner. Everyone has anecdotes a plenty of trawling (or leafing) through a repository to find a policy, procedure or work instruction, form or other document. This is wasted time, causes frustration and results in the need for detective skills and likely incurs more time from another resource or two. Looking for documents is an expensive (and frustrating) way for our workforce to spend their time—period. A one-stop, keyword and advanced search mechanism across all documents (and ideally attachments, too) is one agent of efficiency. Our workforce is used to (and deserves) search engine capability and EQMS providers have made great strides to embed the features in their applications. The application should provide an easy-to-digest format—this can be native through rich text editors and the ability to embed or construct process flow diagrams, or at the very least connect and/or upload version controlled attachments. Maintaining a consistent and easy-to-read format is crucial to success and this should be a best practice maintained organization-wide. Standard document templates are key here so look for solutions with this capability. We must also consider our procedures and other documents' formatting and readability from the mobile device user’s perspective.

2. Ensuring the integrity of documentation Having retrieved the desired document quickly, the user has to discern in a rapid manner that it is the most recently published version. A well-designed format will provide this at-a-glance demand and if a previous version of a document is accessed (via search, perhaps for reference), this must be clearly denoted and one simple action should navigate to the latest approved ‘live’ version. Behind the scenes, document owners and approvers will rely on the ability to work new versions and updates without impacting in-flight documents. With compliance or costly mistakes on the line, the following must be clear, robust and elegant: • Version control: can you use your own, guarantee uniqueness and auto-increment? • Change tracking: what was changed, by whom and when and from/to? • Approval routing: does it have preconfigured flows, delegation capable, multiple approvers, publication gatekeeper (e-signatures)? With the increasing affordability and pervasiveness of mobile technology, the need for hard copy documents is diminishing but simple requirements like marking printed documents as being uncontrolled remain important for the time being. 

3. Automating onerous tasks associated with publishing and distributing documents With the peace of mind of knowing documents are robustly ‘controlled,’ an organization must aim to satisfy efficiencies in the final task of publishing, distributing and, where required, driving training requirements, tracking procedure update acknowledgments and training completion. A review cycle is important for all documents—especially key standard operating procedures. An EQMS solution is by design best placed to achieve a set-and-run approach with minimal overhead. The owner (or owners) of a document or process is known either by name, role or both. By setting a simple recurrence trigger against the document and owner, email and application notification of tasks can be activated and tracked to completion in the document. Without a document management framework this can be onerous to track, error prone and lacking in visibility. The properties of all documents in a document management component of an EQMS should comprise of metadata, in addition to actual content. This metadata includes but is not limited to: • Hierarchy of the document; corporate, business unit, region, plant or department • Distribution by role, function or other element that determines who should need to see access it • Categorizations based on the scope and types of documentation maintained therein

Triangulating users with roles, responsibilities and document access/requirements facilitates the provision of a user’s personal document library and ideally training and/or competence tracking views. Often this needs to be augmented with capabilities to allow for collaboration across multiple writers, editors, and reviewers both internal and external to the organization. In many cases, if the number of collaborators grows beyond just a few, the editing tools within standard tools like Microsoft Office 365 or Google Docs becomes insufficient.

The configuration and use of organization structure (hierarchy), roles and other metadata should be centralized for consistency and efficiency but also must allow for multiple tiers so that individual facilities and departments can associate documents based on appropriate nuances without disrupting the organization’s approach.

An example of these properties working are a policy and associated form or procedure relating to complaints for a line of business (LOB) in North America that relates only to packaging supervisors. By checking four or five property boxes on the policy and the form, the distribution is set to only those users associated with the matching LOB, geographical context and specific roles. This discrete group can be notified of the new documents and ideally acknowledge them either directly in the application or, as is becoming more common, by accessing AND subsequently responding to the email notifying them of the new or updated document(s). This information is subsequently logged for traceability and later interrogation.

4. Leveraging for multiple disciplines as a business operating system The features we have discussed thus far are not necessarily specific to quality management. Document management, despite its functional complexity is one of the simplest enterprise management system components to integrate across disciplines. EHS & sustainability has the same demands for policies, procedures, forms, best practices etc. It makes sense to leverage functionality across disciplines like those mentioned but it can and should be considered in an even wider context. Provided the solution has the appropriate organizational hierarchy mechanism, access control and role-based meta tags, the entire organization can potentially align with the quality management best practices for their document control needs. In this event the solution is elevated to a business operating system component rather than being limited to EQMS. Examples of this can include the management of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)—often these impact quality and compliance with standards like ISO but the authoring of SOPs maybe comes from manufacturing or quality engineers and the distribution of SOPs have to go throughout the organization, all the way through to supervisors and operators on the shop floor.

To know more about how The Idea Smith lean principles and PDCA methodology can help your company improve profitability by reducing lead times, costs and wastes while increasing throughput and customer satisfaction , get in touch .        

[theideasmith]

We live in a world where we have much to be grateful for

We live in a world where we have much to be grateful for, if we would just stop and look around. It's quite humbling to think of all the roles that complete strangers play in our daily existence. Pause for a moment, and begin to think of the connections between people. You will immediately understand the important role that gratitude plays in the creation of a happy, productive life.

Consider the following...

■ The farmer plants, waters, fertilizes, and harvests the tomatoes you enjoy.

■ The truck driver delivers the food to the market that will soon feed your family.

■ The baker kneads and bakes the bread for the sandwich you'll eat for lunch.

■ The engineer and architect design the bridge that allows you to get to work.

■ The furniture maker's handiwork creates the furniture in your living room.

■ The plumber fixes your leak, clears your drain, and plunges your toilet.

■ The teacher educates and inspires your children to be the best they can be.

■ The customer provides the support that enables everyone to receive wages.

■ The performer engages the imagination and entertains your senses.

■ The seamstress sews the beautiful clothes that make you look great.

■ The physician and nurse help to bring your beautiful baby into the world.

The sheer ingenuity and effort required of others is one of the most compelling reasons why we must make gratitude a daily practice. In fact, humility is a virtue integral to gratitude as we cannot recognize the need for gratitude without it.

You may be tempted to believe that success and happiness is the result of karma, fate, design, destiny, or pure luck, but gratitude offers the best guarantee of success.

As you practice the fine art of gratitude, you automatically enhance your peace of mind and overall quality of life. Finding something good in each and every day harnesses the power of gratitude.

Practicing the fine art of gratitude is among not only our most important positive emotions, but also one that links directly to our physical and mental well-being. It's in our self-interest to feel gratitude, because it makes us better people.

When we consciously practice grateful living, happiness follows along with an ability to withstand negative events. An attitude of gratitude provides immunity to anger, envy, resentment, and depression. From the moment you open your eyes until they close again for sleep, express your gratitude far and wide, and actively spread the message that gratitude is the key to the good life. Success is a process that includes both peaks and valleys, but the one constant in a truly successful life is the practice of gratitude.

To know more about how The Idea Smith lean principles and PDCA methodology can help your company improve profitability by reducing lead times, costs and wastes while increasing throughput and customer satisfaction , get in touch .              

[theideasmith]

7 Deadly Wastes

To know more about how The Idea Smith lean principles and PDCA methodology can help your company improve profitability by reducing lead times, costs and wastes while increasing throughput and customer satisfaction , get in touch .                

[theideasmith]

To Be or Not to Be

Greetings,

You just made a choice.

The dictionary defines choice as "the act of making a selection" and I want to use this message drill down on that idea, especially about how you choose to start the Next Day.

EVERY CHOICE MUST have a purpose:  to improve your situation, and move you closer to a positive end goal.

Some people claim that you must "play the hand that life deals." But you build that hand largely from a deck of your own choices, and your hand improves as your choices improve.

The fact is...every choice counts. There are no insignificant choices, no neutral actions.

Even the smallest decision has a bottom-line consequence, leading you toward or away from a positive end goal.

There is no standing still. There is no such thing as staying the same. Therefore, everything choice you make, and action you take today and tomorrow...compliments or comprises. impresses or disappoints. builds up or tears down. advances or retreats. turns on or turns off. adds or subtracts. nothing is neutral.

Every decision has a direction, which moves you one step closer to, or one step further from your goals.

That means if you're not gaining ground in 2015.

You'll be losing ground.

To know more about how The Idea Smith lean principles and PDCA methodology can help your company improve profitability by reducing lead times, costs and wastes while increasing throughput and customer satisfaction , get in touch .

[theideasmith]

10 rules I live by (What are yours)

The one thing I admire about people who have strong nutrition beliefs is their dogmatic behaviour .  For example, a Monika Sharma, under no circumstances, will ever eat Butter Chicken. There is no, "well, everyone else is having a chicken tikka, so just this once, I will too."

That's not how it works. Not when a Jain eater has a strong personal philosophy that they never, ever, ever eat garlic or onions.

And that strong personal philosophy guides them to guilt-free behavior that is congruent with their goals.

As a business and fitness coach i encourage my clients  to develop their own personal philosophy - essentially a set of rules that dictate decisions, and I've also created my own rules that determine how I live my life so that I reduce guilt, stress, and wasted emotional energy.

The purpose of this email is not to say that my personal philosophies are wrong or right.

Instead, they are simply here to encourage you to adopt your own rules for the sake of living a better, more productive stress free life. You may have your own rules in your head, but I encourage you to put them in writing. And you can adopt a set of rules for every aspect of your life, from health to financial to family and business.

(NOTE: My rules have changed - slightly - since I first wrote them. Here is my updated approach to life.)

My 10 Rules

I write for at least 30 minutes every day.

I act polite and courteous, and I do not swear.

I create a to-do list at the start & end of every workday and update my daily gratitude & achievement journal.

I do not engage in confrontations with anyone, in-person or online. This is a waste of time and energy. If I have caused harm, I apologize and fix the situation. And then I take a deep breath, relax, breathe out, and re-focus my efforts back on my work and goals.

I am guided by these two phrases:

"Nothing matters." - I can only work towards the major, massive goals and my vision of helping others, while the opinions of others do not matter to my goals.

"It will all be over soon."

Everything that happens to me - good and bad - is my personal responsibility. I blame no one but myself. These are the choices I've made - this is the life I'm living. I will accept the consequences of my actions.

I will help 100,000 companies go lean.

I will not be the person I don't want to be. I will not be petty, jealous, or envious, or give in to any other of those lazy emotions. I will not be negative when it is easier to be positive. I will not hurt others when it is possible to help. I will know the temptations, situations and environments in life that I must avoid, and I will, in fact, avoid them.

"I will always keep the child within me alive."

"I will write with honesty and feeling." -  The opinion of others does not matter. What matters is the number of people that I can help by sharing advice and encouragement in my writing.

These 10 rules allow me to live my life with less guilt, more energy, and more productivity than if I did not have these personal philosophies outlined.

The point of the list, the idea, the article is to simply stimulate your thinking.

I do wish to make people who realize what's holding them back is not a lack of knowledge (because the knowledge is out there and freely available), but instead, it is decision making.

Wouldn't you be better off if you made MORE correct decisions with less effort and stress?

Of course, and that is where you rules to live by, your personal philosophies, come into play.

As a result of making more correct decisions, you'll move closer to your goals and suffer less frustration. Life will be simpler once you start adhering to your own personal philosophies - and not worrying about what others think.

Stay on the path

To know more about how The Idea Smith lean principles and PDCA methodology can help your company improve profitability by reducing lead times, costs and wastes while increasing throughput and customer satisfaction , get in touch .                

[theideasmith]

How will disruptive technologies shape the we buy and shop ?

Disruptive technologies are at work overtime. Whatever happened to the steady, serene, solid, constructive world that we lived in? Boundaries are getting redefined, rules are being broken only to be rewritten, and technology is changing faster than the blink of the eye. As someone famously said, the best way to see the future is to invent it. The idea smith gazes into his famous crystal ball and tries to see what’s in store for brands and retail in the coming 5 years.

The Future is closer than you think and it looks somewhat like this;

1) Tech Sense: The social layer that we knew of since the past century has been digitally transformed. Real time, portability, Tech sense is now shaping the customer experience. Earlier brands and retail had to deal with and appease the sense of Sight, Touch and Sound. Added to these is the Tech sense.

Brands will have to figure out a way to deal with this newest “Sense on the block” to make any sense to their business growth.

These are rapidly changing times and the reaction to this faster than you blink tech synthesis is going to remain the key to the success or failure of market players.

2) Search: For about a decade you would have been searched on Google (78% of the times) In fact the word Search and Google had become a synonym. Move over Google.   Customers are now getting choice to search on other customer comments. Bing, You tube, apps, pinterest and other mediums.

How do brands find themselves in various searches (or) how to they search themselves in various Finds? Tongue twister isn’t it? That is going to be the relevant question.

3) Messaging: Hike, Viber, Line, Watsapp. Line has reinvented the world of Messaging. From pagers to Watsapp is akin to automotive to aircraft. The flight of messaging has taken off. How does the brands leverage communication skills and message their attributes using real time messaging?

4) Connectivity: It is estimated that by 2020 the number of devices connected to the Internet in the world will exceed 40 billion. India is growing at an rate of 27% in the adding to the net connectivity. This reach poses serious challenge to the conventional “brick and mortar” offline model. However as the opposite side of the challenge coin read “opportunity” this mass proliferation does throw up a massive opportunity.

5) Wear Tech: As tech gets wearable; can wearable become tech. you bet. How does active wear apparel integrate intelligent sensor chips that track the hydrations levels, heart beats, resting rate, calories, etc etc. and give real time feedback to the wearer? This is just one of the many questions which brands will need to ask themselves.

6) Virtual reality: Virtual reality once a part of sci-fi movies is becoming an APP reality. They say whatever the mind can think, is possible. The smart phones, computers, smart TV’s, internet revolution that we are seeing, touching and utilising today are the outcomes of the thoughts and ideas mankind had in the past two to three decades. What we are going to be witness and experience in 2020’s is simply far more powerful and in some ways scarier that anything in the past.  

7) Venture funding: Venture capitalists and angel funding, are pumping in obscene funding. The flavor of the day is disruptive technology. There is disruption everywhere. The markets seem to be in a mood of destructive capitalization. Whatever happened to constructive work?While Warren buffet won’t touch a tech stock with a barge pole, the rest of the fund fraternity seems to think otherwise.  It’s a given that at least 90% of the tech stories will not have a happy ending, however the balance 10% will go on to create a new model of the market place and shape consumer behavior.

8) Payment gateways: Payment gateways  are evolving. Phone turns into a wallet. Watch turns into a phone. Would be looking at a denim pant embedded with android Kitkat 7.0 doubling up as a phone and a watch and a wallet and god know what?

9) BIG data: Big data is making inroads and just like the Orwellian prediction will take over the BIG Brother role. Which essentially means nothing is hidden anymore. Everything about an individual will be available in the public domain. Facts, figures, like, dislikes, fiscal data, and emotional as well as psychological blueprints. You name, I could bet you will find it. This data will not remain an inert part of a massive storage device.

The tools and programs that will mine this data are already being developed. How the data will shape a consumer buying preference is anybody’s guess.

10) The buying experience is changing rapidly and will be totally transformed in the coming 5 years. IN APP, and ONLINE will be powerful enough to offer a game changing experience to the consumer.

Engaging the customer will be nothing like what we have seen to experience as yet.

As the data capture increases and Data analytics becomes supremely powerful the customer will have binary properties. All purchases made in the past 5 years will become the algorithm and brand affinities, size , colour likes, frequency of purchase, purchase power, demographics, resource and purchase utilisations, will become a programme that will a tailor made, customised purchase programme for individuals.

Stores and brands will use this data to service the customer 24*7

The line between on line and in line seems to be blurring each passing day.

Brand building, advertisement and communication will become more personalized. The generic brand and advertising that we now see will give way to direct and interactive and personalized communication.

Omni channel retailing will become mainstream.

11) While the consumer will be spoilt for choices and will be wooed as he or she has never been wooed before, brands and retailers will have to work overtime in order to engage and retain the consumer. The brands success or failure will be dependent on its ability to leverage and integrate the tech trends. It’s the innovators who will take the spoils home. The last word on this immense challenge and equally opportunity has not been written. As the idea smith says, the future is closer than you think it is.

To know more about how The Idea Smith lean principles and PDCA methodology can help your company improve profitability by reducing lead times, costs and wastes while increasing throughput and customer satisfaction , get in touch .

[theideasmith]

THE POWER OF DEADLINES

A wise man was once asked, What is the richest place in the world?  

The graveyard was his answer. Deep isn’t it? Profound but true.  

The graveyard is full of all Ideas, concepts, aspirations, ambitions, intellectual and intelligence Wealth that for some reasons or the other could newer be harnessed. 

Every man buried carried in his mind ideas and concepts and GOALS that he was unable to achieve. They newer had a Deadline attached to them. This is a story that's been told many times before. 

But it still amazes me.

 It's the "Tale of the Deadline". 

It works. It will double your results...

The deadline is all powerful and you must take advantage of it. One place to use deadlines is with your goal setting.

It's soon going to be April 1st, and that's 3 months gone from the timelines set for achieving New Year's resolutions.

First Quarter vanished. Forever. 

Don't just say you want to make $100,000 in 2015. Put a deadline on it. So let's say you pick September 30th, 2014 as the date by which you want to hit $100K this year. Now start working backwards. What do you need to do by then to hit $100K? What do you need to accomplish by June 1st? What do you need to do by March 31st? Feb 28th? January 31st? January 15th? January 3rd? Reverse goal set your way to success with the deadline pushing you on at every step.

Now replace the Financial Goal above with say a weight loss goal. Or a Strength Training Goal. Set a deadline. Work reverse.

Replace your Marketing and Sales goals above. Set a deadline & Work reverse.

I am sure you get the drift.  Harness the power of The Deadline - it might be the most important of the 5 Pillars of Transformation. Use it to double your results, every day. Put this magic to your advantage, NOW.

Missing this trick will ensure one thing. Your ideas remain ideas and your Goals - well they’ll add wealth to some graveyard.

To know more about how The Idea Smith lean principles and PDCA methodology can help your company improve profitability by reducing lead times, costs and wastes while increasing throughput and customer satisfaction , get in touch .

[theideasmith]

RESOURCES

Big Data Analytics, Mobile Technologies And Robotics Defining The Future Of Digital Factories

47% of manufacturers expect big data analytics to have a major impact on company performance making it core to the future of digital factories.

36% expect mobile technologies and applications to improve their company’s financial performance today and in the future.

Read More

http://www.forbes.com/sites/louiscolumbus/2015/02/15/big-data-analytics-mobile-technologies-and-robotics-defining-the-future-of-digital-factories/

[theideasmith]

MOTIVATION

Do and Did, Get and Got.

We are all staring down the barrel of the same reality -

2015 is under way and if we want better results, wemust deploy BETTER strategies.

So what specifically can you do in order to make this your best year ever?

What is the single best strategy for knocking the ball out of the park this year?

If you're not consistently setting and achieving Operational and Financial goals in 2015..

You are standing still. Nothing else matters.

Because your life, career or business business will never bring you the joyand rewards you want...

You will simply wander in the weeds, and never live the life you want and deserve.

You will merely survive, but not thrive.

Standing still is not holding any position; in fact it is going backward. Success loves Speed. Success is wedded to ACTION.

The simplest strategy that delivers total results and one that is universally accepted is

Set small and clearly defined GOALS. Anything generic will not work.

Press ON the timer.

Take massive ACTION daily and don’t give up till you get it.

Here are a few more nuggets as written by (Tom Venuto)

Keep growing your love of reading.

You don’t know how lucky you were to stumble onto the personal development authors like Napoleon Hill, James Allen, Earl Nightingale and Jim Rohn, Tim Collins, Stephen Covey as early you did. Never stop reading. Keep re-reading those classics – they’re not meant to be read just once.  And study in your field every day as well. An hour a day of reading nutrition and exercise science, combined with putting your knowledge into action, will turn you into one of the world’s top experts in less than a decade. Two hours a day and you’ll be world-class in only five years.

 Stay Hungry.

You’re going to achieve a lot of success in your life, but that success will be your downfall if you let it.  That goes for your bodybuilding, your business, your education and your personal development. When you achieve really big goals, you tend to feel like you’ve made it, and then you rest on your laurels for too long before you set a new goal. You’ve got to do what Arnold said to do: Stay hungry. If you learn only one thing from your early hero, make it that thing. Never get complacent. Never stop setting goals. Be grateful for what you’ve got, and be happy with what you’ve got, but never be satisfied.

Never stop growing.

As the positive flipside of avoiding complacency, always focus on growth – and I’m not just talking about muscle. Personal growth and continuous self-improvement will deliver more happiness and satisfaction to you than almost anything else in your life.  If you’re not growing, you’re dying, and you’ll feel it. If you ever catch yourself standing still, in your training, in your business or anywhere in your life, you are going to be absolutely miserable – and the more aware you become of your potential, the more miserable you’ll be if you realize you’re not fulfilling it. Never stop becoming more of what you’re capable of becoming.

And you are willing to take "the road less traveled" and do what most people are NOT willing to do...

Hope this helps you uncover the reasons why your life, career or business will never really work like you want it to, as it is now.

Along with how you can solve this "life or death" problem for good...

Before 2015 quickly becomes just another disappointing memory. Take massive action.

Reclaim your life! Your health! Your career! Your relationship!

To know more about how The Idea Smith lean principles and PDCA methodology can help your company improve profitability by reducing lead times, costs and wastes while increasing throughput and customer satisfaction , get in touch .

[theideasmith]

MOTIVATION

Seven Questions Millionaires are asking themselves daily

As we look around trying to keep pace with the “faster than you blink” evolving world we are getting addicted to find information, self-help, tutorials, guidelines on how to lead successful lives in the plethora of trash that gets thrown at us.

It’s really like looking for gold in the garbage yard.

While the spiritual gurus have always preached this Frank McKinney has written about this beautifully in “Make it Big” 

Just what did you introspect today morning? Care to write the same in a few lines

One of my favorite suggestions from Frank is to, "Spend time in introspection. Figure yourself out."

It's something I am learning to do every morning now as soon as I wake-up. I sit down at the yoga mat, and I go through 15 minutes of big thinking about business, life, health, wealth, and personal relationships.

Recently Frank shared these 7 important questions that we should all take time out of our busy schedules to answer.

These are multi-millionaire level questions. It's perfect timing for these because Frank suggests doing a year-end review, asking yourself:

1) What has changed since the year started?

2) Where did I "exceed my known definition of greatness"?

3) Where did I fall short?

4) What did I learn about myself or those around me that I didn't know before?

5) Are there other areas of my life that need the attention of a Personal Renaissance (Frank's term for a "transformation")?

6) Will you continue to focus on something you started here?

7) Could you apply this discipline elsewhere, such as marriage, exercise, a job, your social life, etc.?

Take time to spend in introspection with those questions. They will help you identify mistakes of the past and how you can turn 2015 into a year where you possibly become a millionaire, or an athlete, or a successful writer (a goal that I've long had since I was just stupid broke child).

 "Remember that more change happens in the mind than in reality. Be sure to observe and acknowledge how you've evolved, matured, or otherwise improved your mindset as well as the tangible results you've produced. Roll with the punches, baby. Be honest with yourself.

"A transformation is an active pursuit, one that requires initiative, drive, desire, planning, and follow-through. Conduct an open-eyed, honest review.

"Then go live your life. Take some chances, even if there's the possibility of failure. Be an opportunist, keeping an open mind and seeing new possibilities you might never have considered before." - Frank McKinney .

To know more about how The Idea Smith lean principles and PDCA methodology can help your company improve profitability by reducing lead times, costs and wastes while increasing throughput and customer satisfaction , get in touch .

[theideasmith]

MOTIVATION

Fear of Failure

Success is 99% Failure - founder of Honda, Soichiro Honda

Does this sound familiar?

Someday, I'm going to...

Write the book I've been talking about.

Lose the weight I've been complaining about.

Pay of the debt I've been dreading about.

Start the business I've been thinking about.

Live the life I've been dreaming about.

Of course, for most people these things won't happen,

Not now - not ever!

The other day I realized that one of the greatest obstacles you’ll come up against is the person you see in the mirror.

That’s right, YOU!

Have you ever felt the fear to pick up the phone and call a prospective client? Or how about waiting to launch your website or a direct online store because things we’re ‘quite right’ yet?

The reality is, almost everyone one of us has faced some kind of fear like this that holds us back from moving forward and being successful.

What it comes down to is ‘fear of failure’.

We see failure. Real or Imaginary and two scenarios unfold.

We get scared by it and then use it as an excuse not to move forward. Not to get more done.

Or you can view your failure as a lesson. Learn from it and move on.

Michael Jordan is famous for saying, “I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”

When you encounter failure or rejection, don’t take it personally.

Learn from it, adjust, improve and move on.

There are essentially kinds of people in the world, playing three different kinds of games: the wills, the won'ts, and the can'ts.

The "wills" play to win, and they accomplish much.

The "won'ts" play it safe, and they accomplish little.

The "can'ts" play to lose, and they don't accomplish anything.

THE POWER OF I WILL

There are no words that are as great and powerful as the words

"I WILL."

There is strength, conviction, depth, solidarity, decision, focus,confidence, and sheer determination in the loud, ringing tone which punctuates their delivery.

The words "I WILL" send an advance message to your mind and to those within earshot.

It's a message of conviction and commitment, of triumph over -adversity, of victory in the face of great resistance, of the strength, will, and personal constitution to

PERSEVERE UNTIL THE END.

[theideasmith]

To know more about how The Idea Smith lean principles and PDCA methodology can help your company improve profitability by reducing lead times, costs and wastes while increasing throughput and customer satisfaction , get in touch .