This is of course one of the all time great (geek) topics: who will rule in the future – humans or machines? I was reminded of it by discussion of Techmeme’s story selection. It should not be surprising that a single algorithm – in Gabe’s case link analysis – is not always successful at picking out the important stories. One of the things that makes our human brains so powerful is that they can more or less in parallel apply many different algorithms and synthesize the results. When we look a...

It is the worst possible time for us to have a lame duck administration. The contraction that is taking place has a lot of self re-enforcing loops. People are getting laid off in droves – that scares everyone else – people stop spending – demand drops off – companies need to cut back – resulting in more layoffs. Monetary policy is essentially useless for breaking this and similar loops that are taking place. The cost and availability of funds are not at issue. Narrow money supply has grown at...

This is of course one of the all time great (geek) topics: who will rule in the future – humans or machines? I was reminded of it by discussion of Techmeme’s story selection. It should not be surprising that a single algorithm – in Gabe’s case link analysis – is not always successful at picking out the important stories. One of the things that makes our human brains so powerful is that they can more or less in parallel apply many different algorithms and synthesize the results. When we look a...

It is the worst possible time for us to have a lame duck administration. The contraction that is taking place has a lot of self re-enforcing loops. People are getting laid off in droves – that scares everyone else – people stop spending – demand drops off – companies need to cut back – resulting in more layoffs. Monetary policy is essentially useless for breaking this and similar loops that are taking place. The cost and availability of funds are not at issue. Narrow money supply has grown at...

Another key Kaizen technique is the customization of tools or even the creation of entirely custom tools. In one of the early posts I wrote about how a Japanese automotive supplier was able to switch parts in injection molding in minutes whereas a similar German supplier needed almost 12 hours. The basic setup they were using was quite similar, but the Japanese supplier had made extensive modifications to the basic injection molding machine. For instance, the die (mold) has to have a certain ...

Another key Kaizen technique is the customization of tools or even the creation of entirely custom tools. In one of the early posts I wrote about how a Japanese automotive supplier was able to switch parts in injection molding in minutes whereas a similar German supplier needed almost 12 hours. The basic setup they were using was quite similar, but the Japanese supplier had made extensive modifications to the basic injection molding machine. For instance, the die (mold) has to have a certain ...

In manufacturing, when stuff goes wrong, there tends to be physical evidence, such as a part with holes in the wrong place. It is therefore often easy to find the immediate cause of the problem, which might be to say that the wholes were drilled in the wrong place and go yell at the person who does the drilling. But in Kaizen, the immediate cause of a problem is only the beginning of the analysis, not the end. The team is supposed to start with the problem and ask “Why?” seven times to determ...

In manufacturing, when stuff goes wrong, there tends to be physical evidence, such as a part with holes in the wrong place. It is therefore often easy to find the immediate cause of the problem, which might be to say that the wholes were drilled in the wrong place and go yell at the person who does the drilling. But in Kaizen, the immediate cause of a problem is only the beginning of the analysis, not the end. The team is supposed to start with the problem and ask “Why?” seven times to determ...

One of my favorite Kaizen techniques is visualization. On the shopfloor this takes the form of large signs that graphically display key quality metrics. The charts show overall trendlines but also break out individual teams. This is a powerful motivator. When there are large gains in quality, the credit can go to the team(s) that produced the progress. Conversely, when the overall chart shows a dip or a slow down in improvement, it is often readily apparent which team is responsible. Some peo...

One of my favorite Kaizen techniques is visualization. On the shopfloor this takes the form of large signs that graphically display key quality metrics. The charts show overall trendlines but also break out individual teams. This is a powerful motivator. When there are large gains in quality, the credit can go to the team(s) that produced the progress. Conversely, when the overall chart shows a dip or a slow down in improvement, it is often readily apparent which team is responsible. Some peo...

Holiday gift shopping is in full swing and I have had a number of relatives ask me what I would like to get. I always say, please don’t give me more stuff. Stuff basically includes any and all physical objects (excluding books). I have long ago crossed the threshold of having too much stuff and find myself spending more and more time getting rid of stuff to unclutter my life. Paul Graham has a longer post describing his similar issues with stuff. Susan rightly points out that just saying what...

Holiday gift shopping is in full swing and I have had a number of relatives ask me what I would like to get. I always say, please don’t give me more stuff. Stuff basically includes any and all physical objects (excluding books). I have long ago crossed the threshold of having too much stuff and find myself spending more and more time getting rid of stuff to unclutter my life. Paul Graham has a longer post describing his similar issues with stuff. Susan rightly points out that just saying what...

A great Kaizen technique is to drive towards lot size one. In manufacturing this means that each part goes through the process separately. It usually also means that you can interpserse different parts in the production process. For instance, in the case of the injection molding supplier for Porsche that I mentioned previously, it meant figuring out how to paint each part separately instead of in batches of twenty parts. Some of the advantages of lot size one are immediately apparent. Say you...

A great Kaizen technique is to drive towards lot size one. In manufacturing this means that each part goes through the process separately. It usually also means that you can interpserse different parts in the production process. For instance, in the case of the injection molding supplier for Porsche that I mentioned previously, it meant figuring out how to paint each part separately instead of in batches of twenty parts. Some of the advantages of lot size one are immediately apparent. Say you...

Another basic tenet of Kaizen is that inventory is evil. Inventory is what folks use to cover up the problems and inefficiencies in their production process. In traditional analyses of inventory, the cost of inventory is generally determined based on the cost of the capital that is tied up and the space for the inventory. Kaizen considers a significant additional cost that is much harder to quantify – the cost of allowing problems and inefficiencies in production to persist. Kaizen thinks of ...

Another basic tenet of Kaizen is that inventory is evil. Inventory is what folks use to cover up the problems and inefficiencies in their production process. In traditional analyses of inventory, the cost of inventory is generally determined based on the cost of the capital that is tied up and the space for the inventory. Kaizen considers a significant additional cost that is much harder to quantify – the cost of allowing problems and inefficiencies in production to persist. Kaizen thinks of ...

Yesterday evening, the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYC EDC) hosted an event for folks from the financial service industry to discuss the impact of the crisis on the city and what can be done about it. The opening presentation outlined the extent of the problem. In New York City 15% of all employment is in or directly related to financial services, generating 34% of all wages. That is not even counting any jobs that depend on the wages earned by someone employed in financia...

Yesterday evening, the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYC EDC) hosted an event for folks from the financial service industry to discuss the impact of the crisis on the city and what can be done about it. The opening presentation outlined the extent of the problem. In New York City 15% of all employment is in or directly related to financial services, generating 34% of all wages. That is not even counting any jobs that depend on the wages earned by someone employed in financia...

The most fundamental priniciple of Kaizen is the centrality of quality. This expresses itself in three ways. First, quality is seen as central to reducing time and cost: By avoiding defects, you save rework cost and time. Second, quality is not the responsibility of a separate QA department. It is everyone’s responsibility from the CEO to the frontline assembly person. Third, quality is not an outcome but an ongoing process of improvement. To capture this last idea, the quality goals in Kaize...

The most fundamental priniciple of Kaizen is the centrality of quality. This expresses itself in three ways. First, quality is seen as central to reducing time and cost: By avoiding defects, you save rework cost and time. Second, quality is not the responsibility of a separate QA department. It is everyone’s responsibility from the CEO to the frontline assembly person. Third, quality is not an outcome but an ongoing process of improvement. To capture this last idea, the quality goals in Kaize...