improvement

2006-10-30T10:50:00.000-08:00

Congratulation for : Forty4, e-grasshopper, blogproof. Boguslaw and maniana.

2006-09-28T00:18:00.000-07:00

Influence: Science and Practice, by Robert B. Cialdini, Ph.D.

"Arguably the best book ever on what is increasingly becoming the science of persuasion. Whether you're a mere consumer or someone weaving the web of persuasion to urge others to buy or vote for your product, this is an essential book for understanding the psychological foundations of marketing. Recommended." --Amazon.com

It is worderfull book, I could read it…and read….and read. Please give us your comments.

Maybe You know some similar book, please share it with us :)

2006-09-26T02:40:00.000-07:00

ECR - Effective Consumer Response

According to the theory of the value chain, the companies’ advantage can be improved by skilful cooperation between e.g. production & logistics, logistics & marketing. New methods of flow controlling e.g.: Just in Time, Quick Response, Effective Consumer Response together with new management concepts like: outsourcing, lean management, lean logistics force companies to establish strategic ties of cooperation.

The difference between logistics and SCM (Supply Chain Management) - according to the M.Christopher – is cooperation of the companies inside the SC.

The real SCM success depend on integration and coordination of three types of the flow: information, products, cash.

Thanks to ECR it is possible to increase level of customer service because this strategic is based on close cooperation between trade partners. It require an exact exchange of the information between individual SC chain links which is possible thanks to the Electronic Data Interchange.

In practice very often EDI is not enough developed comparing to the whole SC.

For the industry of Fast Moving Customer Goods (FMCG) it is crucial to skip the storehouse in SC and transport goods directly on the shelves. It brings as well as big saving of money as longer expiry date.

What is under the banner of:

CRP – Continuous Replenishment Program – key component of ECR. Accurate demand forecast together with well synchronized production assisted by efficient and fast deliveries can be excellent basis for brand new quality.

CD – Cross Docking (idea centralnego komplementowania)

Did your company implement ECR?? Have You any experience You would like to share?? Do You find it as a useful improvement’s tool??

2006-09-22T14:10:00.000-07:00

How to Stop Worrying and Start Living - Dale Carnegie

Carnegie says in the preface to HtSWaSL that he wrote it because he "was one of the unhappiest lads in New York. He said that he made himself sick with worry because he hated his position in life, which he attributes to wanting to figure out how to stop worrying.

The book is written in ten parts, as follows:

Part One: Fundamental facts you should know about worry
Part Two: Basic techniques in analysing worry
Part Three: How to break the worry habit before it breaks you
Part Four: Seven ways to cultivate a mental attitude that will bring you peace and happiness
Part Five: The golden rule for conquering worry
Part Six: How to keep from worrying about criticism
Part Seven: Six ways to prevent fatigue and worry and keep your energy and spirits high
Part Eight: How to find the kind of work in which you may be happy and successful
Part Nine: How to lessen your financial worries
Part Ten: "How I conquered worry"

For more information see: http://www.westegg.com/unmaintained/carnegie/stop-worry.html

Personally I think it is realy an excellent book for all of us !!! - Bear in mind "managers who don't know how to overcome stress/worries die young"

2006-09-22T13:55:00.000-07:00

JAK PRZETRWAĆ I ODNIEŚĆ SUKCES W BIZNESIE - Frank Bettger

„How I Raised Myself from Failure to Success in Selling”

The "lessons" revolve around the life experiences of Frank Bettger, who was a living American success story. Frank Bettger's father died without any life insurance when he was a small boy. His mother had to take in washing and sewing to feed and clothe her five children. Three of the children died from illness. Frank had no formal education after the sixth grade. He played professional baseball, and had to quit because of an injury.

He was working collecting accounts on a bicycle for a furniture store when one of his former team mates suggested he try selling life insurance. He was initially a failure as an insurance salesperson, and was ready to quit. Then he learned some lessons that enabled him to turn his career around and eventually become one of the most successful life insurance salespersons of his time. According to Dale Carnegie, author of How To Make Friends And Influence People, Frank became so successful, he could have retired at age 40. Dale Carnegie was a friend of Frank's and invited him to share his experiences in a nationwide lecture tour for the Junior Chambers of Commerce (now Jaycees), and finally begged him to write them down in a book, one of the most practical books ever written on the subject of selling.

One of the lessons Frank shares is how the power of enthusiasam increased his income by 700% in ten days.

When Frank was ready to quit the selling business, one sentence put him back in the business and turned around his career. That sentence was from Walter LeMar Talbot, President of the Fidelity Mutual Life Insurance Company. "Gentlemen, after all, this business of selling narrows down to one thing - just one thing . . . seeing the people! Show me any man of ordinary ability who will go out and earnestly tell his story to four or five people every day, and I will show you a man who just can't help making good!"

Frank discovered that seeing four or five people a day was actually a big job. In order to keep on track, he found it was critically important for him to keep good records. By tracking the results of his calls, he was able to improve his closing ratio from one sale out of 29 calls to one out of three, and the value of his calls from $2.30 to $19 each.

On one of his sales calls, Frank hit a "home run." He made one of the largest sales in the history of his company to that point. In analyzing the sale, he wasn't able to determine what had happened. Then an "old timer," Clayt Hunsicker, pointed out to Frank the reason for this successful sale, and changed Frank's mission in selling. Clayt said, "The most important secret of salesmanship is to find out what the other fellow wants, then help him find the best way to get it. . . If you will always remember this one rule, selling will be easy."

Frank concludes the book by revealing a key secret of his success. As a resident of Philadelphia, he was fascinated with one of Philadelphia's most famous historical persons, Benjamin Franklin. Franklin only had two years of formal education and became one of the leading scholars and statesmen of his time.

This is one of a few books that I go back to for a "refresher" each year because it covers not only principles of selling but also principles for successful living.

2006-09-22T13:31:00.000-07:00

"Self improvement"

As I wrote in my first post in this blog, I would like to stretch my subject to self-improvement. I would like to share with You with information about the best books I’ve ever read. These books are strongly related with the subject of this blog and touch on:

- management & leadership,

- success,

- psychology.

It would be cool, if You would share with the blog’s readers with your best books (related to the subject) :-)

2006-09-22T12:56:00.000-07:00

TOC

TOC has been initiated by Eliyahu M. Goldratt and is being actively developed by a loosely coupled community of practitioners around the world. TOC is sometimes referred to as "Constraint Management".

The Theory of Constraints is the practical results of Eli Goldratt's work on "how to think". It is the Thinking Processes and their applications. TOC is a verifiable philosophy. By knowing how to think, we can better understand the world around us; by better understanding we can improve.

The Theory of Constraints (TOC) consists of three parts:

1) A set of problem-solving tools - called the TOC Thinking Processes (TP) - to logically and systematically answer the three questions essential to any process of on-going improvement: "What to change?", "To what to change to?" and "How to cause the change?";
2) A set of daily management tools - taken from the TOC Thinking Processes - that can be used to significantly improve vital management skills, such as communication, effecting change, team building and empowerment; and,
3) Innovative, proven solutions created by applying the TOC Thinking Processes to specific application areas, such as Production (as introduced in The Goal), Distribution (as discussed in Its Not Luck), Marketing and Sales (as discussed in Its Not Luck), Project Management, and Setting The Direction of The Company, to name only a few.

Have You any experience with this new philosophy of improvement? I think it is not well known philosophy in Poland yet, do You agree??

2006-09-20T08:23:00.000-07:00

Value Analysis and Waste Elimination

Value Adding Activity

An activity that transforms or shapes raw material or information to meet customer requirements.

Non-Value Adding Activity

Those activities that take time, resources or space, but do not add to the value of the product itself.

Value Added Analysis Scenarios

How do You perceive your company / department / place of work??

Have You ever thought about your activities at work??

2006-09-20T07:48:00.000-07:00

Lean Manufacturing - production improvement

Definitions

· Value - A capability provided to a customer at the right time at an appropriate price, as defined in each case by the customer. Features of the product or service, availability, cost and performance are dimensions of value.

· Waste - Any activity that consumes resources but creates no value (waste).

What is Lean?

· Lean production focuses on eliminating waste in processes (i.e. the waste of work in progress and finished good inventories)

· Lean production is not about eliminating people

· Lean production is about expanding capacity by reducing costs and shortening cycle times between order and ship date

· Lean is about understanding what is important to the customer

Thinking Lean

Specify value

can only be defined by the ultimate customer

Identify the value stream

exposes the enormous amounts of waste

Create flow

reduce batch size and WIP

Let the customer pull product through the value stream

make only what the customer has ordered

Seek perfection

continuously improve quality and eliminate waste

Benefits

Lean provides tangible benefits
Reduces costs not just selling price

Reduces delivery time, cycle time, set-up time
Eliminates waste
Seeks continuous improvement

Improves quality
Improves customer ratings and perceptions
Increases overall customer satisfaction
Improves employee involvement, morale, and company culture
Helps “transform” manufacturers

Toyota Production System (TPS)

Quality, Cost, Delivery

Shorten Production Flow by Eliminating Waste

Just In Time

The Right Part at the Right Time in the Right Amount
Continuous Flow
Pull Systems
Level Production

Built-In Quality

Error Proofing – Poka Yoke
Visual Controls

Operational Stability (Standardized Work, Robust Products & Processes, Total Productive Maintenance, and Supplier Involvement)

Types of Waste

· Overproduction

· Excess inventory

· Defects

· Non-value added processing

· Waiting

· Underutilized people

· Excess motion

· Transportation

Barriers to Lean

Implementing Lean Can Be Difficult Because it is Counterintuitive from a Traditional Paradigm:

Buying multiple small machines rather than one big machine that offers economies of scale.
Shutting down equipment when maximum inventory levels are reached rather than running flat out.
Using standards to continuously improve.

There is no step-by-step cook book

There are some basic steps but the how-to varies from organization to organization
Requires an assessment of the company in order to map out the strategy

Company culture plays a big part in the how-to

Progress Toward Lean

· Smaller lot sizes

· Increased capacity / throughput

· Higher inventory turns

· More available floor space

· Improved workplace organization

· Improved quality : reduced scrap / re-work

· Reduced inventories : raw, WIP, FG

· Reduced lead times

· Greater gross margin

· Improved participation & morale

Lean Is A Journey

· The Journey never ends

· Toyota estimates it is only 50% waste-free

· Where can we begin? Where can we improve?

Do You think it will work in polish companies?? Do You know any companies which have implemented lean manufacturing?? Any other coments??

For these who are interested with the lean subject, I have many books, articles and materials from conferences :-)

2006-09-19T10:13:00.000-07:00

I would like to welcome everyone on my blog :-)
The subject of this blog is IMPROVEMENT. I hope we will share many interesting information related to the subject of the blog. I'm especially interested in:

production improvement,
self improvement,
MBA course improvement.