Jerry Nihen

In the late 1940s, Toyota re-imagined the approach to manufacturing and engineering, forever changing the automotive world. This system is highly visual in nature, allowing teams to communicate more easily on work that needs to be done, and when. It standardizes cues and refines processes, and will help eliminate waste in an organization (while maximizing production). How the Kanban System Works The system is easy. First, we define workflow that is specific to our business. We then use a system of priority setting, to decide which pieces of work should be tackled first. Using a pull system, we pull work from a queue in a clear system so everyone can see what's going on. This system controls the release of work in a project, and more importantly, ensures that the most constrained resources are doing only the work that services the goal of the entire system, not just one component. We have a board that generally has 5 or 6 different items.   The board has a column for each step of...

Faulty memory and distraction are a particular danger in what engineers call all-or-none processes: whether running to the store to buy ingredients for a cake, preparing an airplane for takeoff, or evaluating a sick person in the hospital, if you miss just one key thing, you might as well not have made the effort at all. -The Checklist Manifesto In large projects with many moving parts, professionals have a lot to remember. Hundreds, sometimes even thousands of details make up a completed project. One of the main tools we use in project management over at Jay Nine Incorporated is the simple checklist. All of our projects and tasks have checklists associated with them to confirm crucial working parts aren't forgotten in the haze of an ongoing project. The checklist offers the reassurance of verification while instilling a discipline for higher performance. A checklist removes the "you should have known" variable and provides a concrete explanation of the project requirements and important aspects of the project. For...