Friday, October 31, 2008

#52 - Dan Markovitz, Office Lean - Lean Blog Podcast

Podcast Episode #52 is a discussion with a good friend (and sometimes contributor) to the Lean Blog, Dan Markovitz, founder and President of TimeBack Management. TimeBack Management is a corporate efficiency-training firm specializing in the application of Lean manufacturing principles to business processes. The company’s WorkLean program helps knowledge workers reduce the hidden waste in the way they manage information and improves the flow of value to the customer. As such, the WorkLean program supports companies in their Lean journey.

In this podcast episode, we talk about applications of Lean and 5S principles in office and administrative settings.

For earlier episodes, visit the main Podcast page at www.leanpodcast.org.

If you have feedback on the podcast, or any questions for me or my guests, you can email me at leanpodcast@gmail.com or you can call and leave a voicemail by calling the "Lean Line" at (817) 776-LEAN (817-776-5326) or contact me via Skype id "mgraban". Please give your location and your first name. Any comments (email or voicemail) might be used in follow ups to the podcast.

Sunday, October 12, 2008

#51 - Lt. Randy Russell, Lean Blog Podcast

Podcast Episode #51 is the first part of a two-parter with retired Lt. Randy Russell of the Jacksonville Sheriff's Department, an innovator in the use of Lean methods for improving law enforcement. Starting in 2004, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Department starting using Lean as a continuous improvement program. In the podcast, Randy describes their journey and the improvements that have contributed to providing more time for sheriffs and officers for policing that helps protect the community. As in healthcare, the real opportunity for Lean is not using isolated tools in a trivial way, but rather in ways that save lives and provide more time for officers to be out on the streets, instead of dealing with waste. It sounds like a pretty direct parallel to using Lean in a hospital to free up time for nurses to spend with patients.

Randy’s company, Hyperformance Enterprises, LLC, operates a Lean consulting and training division that can be found online at www.improvementors.com. Randy's interests include waste identification and elimination, process improvement, transactional systems, and strategic alignment. His hands-on experience with Lean in a broad array of settings as the former Chairman of the (47+ member) Jacksonville Lean Consortium and his two decade career as a law enforcement commander and lead security planner for a Super Bowl provides valuable added experience and insights when it comes to dealing with sensitive and complex projects.

If you have feedback on the podcast, or any questions for me or my guests, you can email me at leanpodcast@gmail.com or you can call and leave a voicemail by calling the "Lean Line" at (817) 776-LEAN (817-776-5326) or contact me via Skype id "mgraban". Please give your location and your first name. Any comments (email or voicemail) might be used in follow ups to the podcast.