This book is a hands-on single-source reference of tools, techniques, and processes integrating both Lean and Six Sigma. This comprehensive handbook provides up-to-date guidance on how to use these tools and processes in different settings, such as start-up companies and stalled projects, as well as establish enterprises where the ongoing drive is to improve processes, profitability, and long-term growth. It contains the "hard" Six Sigma approach as well as the flexible approach of FIT SIGMA, which is adaptable to manufacturing and service industries and also public sector organisations. You will also discover how climate change initiatives can be accelerated to sustainable outcomes by the holistic approach of Green Six Sigma.

The book is about what we can do now with leadership, training, and teamwork in every sphere of our businesses. Lean, originally developed by Toyota, is a set of processes and tools aimed at minimising wastes. Six Sigma provides a set of data-driven techniques to minimise defects and improve processes. Integrating these two approaches provides a comprehensive and proven approach that can transform an organisation. To make change happen, we need both digital tools and analog approaches. We know that there has been a continuous push to generate newer approaches to operational excellence, such as Total Quality Management, Six Sigma, Lean Sigma, Lean Six Sigma, and FIT SIGMA.

It is vital that we harness all our tools and resources to regenerate the economy after the Covid-19 pandemic and make climate change initiatives successful for the survival of our planet. Six Sigma and its hybrids (e.g., Lean Six Sigma) should also play a significant part. Over the last three decades, operational performance levels of both public sector and private sector organisations improved significantly and Lean Six Sigma has also acted as a powerful change agent. We urgently need an updated version of these tools and approaches.

The Green Six Sigma Handbook not only applies appropriate Lean and Six Sigma tools and approaches, fitness for the purpose, but it aims at sustainable changes. This goal of sustainability is a stable bridge between Lean Six Sigma and climate change initiatives. Hence, when the tools and approaches of Lean Six Sigma are focused and adapted primarily to climate change demands, we get Green Six Sigma.

This book presents the mechanics of implementing visuality on the value-add level known as Work That Makes Sense (WTMS). The step-by-step WTMS process described in this book teaches operators a proven method for translating information deficits into visual solutions that take the struggle out of their day-to-day work. As a result, operators transform their work area into a work environment that speaks-a work environment that, by design, shares vital information in the form of visual devices that help them perform their day-to-day work with precision and completeness. At the heart of this visual conversion approach is an element unique to Galsworth's paradigm called I-driven that recognizes that operators will pursue self-leadership in the company's improvement initiatives if they are given the opportunity to learn how to do so. Also recognized is the fact that this can only happen if associates are taught-and given the opportunity to learn and apply a new system of thinking. The author calls this new system visual thinking. This book provides that learning pathway, in detail, supported by hundreds of actual visual solutions, developed by operators who have followed that pathway and become visual thinkers for themselves-I-driven. They become self-leaders, in control of their corner of the world and able and willing to share their strengths with others. In this way, the WTMS process produces a deep and abiding change in the company's work culture that builds creativity and ownership. As a result, the organization's leadership framework widens to include operators. When effectively applied the WTMS process detailed in this book produces 15% to 30% improvement in local KPIs, including productivity, on-time delivery, quality, and costs; these figures are documented and presented in the pages of this book. Written for operators, this book includes a wealth of color photographs, the majority of which are visual solutions created by visual thinkers who have lived this process for themselves. All are fully captioned and thoughtfully described. The book also includes twelve tasks that managers implement in support that they seek on the operator level. WTMS teaches that visual devices translate information into exact behavior, embedding and sustaining precision through visual solutions. Precision is built in by the same operators who execute it. This is the heart of an I-driven visual enterprise. Once learned and operationalized, this paradigm allows the organization to take on any new improvement effort. Organizational alignment and teamwork have been redefined and operationalized.

This book introduces a powerful system that explains how to run a company with a focus on continuous improvement. The results are a satisfied customer base, evolving products and an increase in revenue and profits. These factors determine the success for any company because business transformation involves making fundamental changes in how business is conducted to cope with shifts in the market environment. This a comprehensive book for valuable guidance on framing strategy and overcoming challenges for successful and sustainable implementation of a lean production system, daily management system and lean accounting system in companies to empower the managers to serve their customers with timely delivery of quality products while maximizing profits and easing workloads. The main challenge is ensuring operations colleagues in different functions understand the link between their daily work and the profit and loss statement. In addition, it illustrates how finance personnel can assist the operations team and be a part of the transformation journey. This book is not meant to impart theoretical knowledge of the lean production system, daily management and lean accounting, as there are many books already available that focus on the methodology instead of the implementation. This book empowers people in each function of a company, irrespective of which level they work in the company, and shows them the way to operate on a daily basis to achieve the company's strategy while simultaneously fulfilling their career goals. The book lays out a brief history of the evolution of lean concepts with a focus on lean accounting. This book guides the successful implementation and sustenance of lean and kaizen tools and provides answers to the questions: Who should lead the lean and kaizen implementation in the company? Where should the lean and kaizen journey begin? Which lean and kaizen tools should be implemented first? How important is capacity for the company? How much current capacity is wasted and how much free capacity is available? Where exactly are the resources being wasted in the company? How can the company reduce waste to release capacity for more production? Why should the daily management system and lean accounting system be implemented simultaneously with the lean production system? Why must managers understand the monetary value of their daily activities? Is there an easy way of making a profit and loss statement that is understood at each level in the company? Why is one-day closing of accounts important and how can it be done?

This book introduces a powerful system that explains how to run a company with a focus on continuous improvement. The results are a satisfied customer base, evolving products and an increase in revenue and profits. These factors determine the success for any company because business transformation involves making fundamental changes in how business is conducted to cope with shifts in the market environment. This a comprehensive book for valuable guidance on framing strategy and overcoming challenges for successful and sustainable implementation of a lean production system, daily management system and lean accounting system in companies to empower the managers to serve their customers with timely delivery of quality products while maximizing profits and easing workloads. The main challenge is ensuring operations colleagues in different functions understand the link between their daily work and the profit and loss statement. In addition, it illustrates how finance personnel can assist the operations team and be a part of the transformation journey. This book is not meant to impart theoretical knowledge of the lean production system, daily management and lean accounting, as there are many books already available that focus on the methodology instead of the implementation. This book empowers people in each function of a company, irrespective of which level they work in the company, and shows them the way to operate on a daily basis to achieve the company's strategy while simultaneously fulfilling their career goals. The book lays out a brief history of the evolution of lean concepts with a focus on lean accounting. This book guides the successful implementation and sustenance of lean and kaizen tools and provides answers to the questions: Who should lead the lean and kaizen implementation in the company? Where should the lean and kaizen journey begin? Which lean and kaizen tools should be implemented first? How important is capacity for the company? How much current capacity is wasted and how much free capacity is available? Where exactly are the resources being wasted in the company? How can the company reduce waste to release capacity for more production? Why should the daily management system and lean accounting system be implemented simultaneously with the lean production system? Why must managers understand the monetary value of their daily activities? Is there an easy way of making a profit and loss statement that is understood at each level in the company? Why is one-day closing of accounts important and how can it be done?

Developing an ISO 13485-Certified Quality Management System: An Implementation Guide for the Medical-Device Industry details the lessons learned from a real-world project focusing on building an ISO 13485:2016 Quality Management System (QMS) from scratch and then having it officially certified. It is a practical guide to building or improving your existing QMS with tried and tested solutions. The book takes a hands-on approach-first teaching the top 25 lessons to know before starting to develop a QMS and then walking you through the process of writing the quality manual and the standard operating procedures, training the staff on the QMS, organizing an internal audit, executing a management review, and finally passing the necessary external audits and obtaining certification. It helps you to progress from one task to the next and provides all the essential information to accomplish each task as quickly and efficiently as possible. It does not attempt to replicate the standard but instead drills into the standard to expose the core of each section of the standard and reorganize its contents into a practical workflow for developing, maintaining, and improving a Lean QMS. The book includes a wealth of real-world experience both from the author's personal dive into quality management, and from the experiences of other companies in the field and provides handy checklists for ensuring key documents and processes are fit for use-the emphasis here is to help ensure you have considered all relevant aspects. In addition, the book is not intended as a "cheat sheet" for the standard or as a review of the standard that only adds lengthy commentary on each of the clauses. Instead, the book fixes easy misunderstandings regarding QMS, provides insight into why the various clauses are written the way they are, and provides a great base to both understanding ISO 13485 QMS and developing your own QMS. The book is intended to serve both experts and novices audiences-it provides special insight on the most crucial and effective aspects of QMS.

This book guides process-industry professionals from the implementation of the basic foundations of Continuous Improvement (CI) through to an organization where CI is a "way of life" and a defining feature of the culture of the organization. The readers of this book are seeking solutions to such pressing issues as: * Eliminating accidents and near misses. * Reducing customer complaints. * Improving customer delivery performance. * Elimination of accidents and near misses. * Reducing customer complaints. * Improving customer delivery performance. * Introducing new products. * Improving staff productivity. * Removing costs to meet the budget. * Dealing with absence and poor morale. * Improving staff retention. This book provides them with guidance on how to address issues in these areas in a way that enables improvements to be realized quickly but not at the expense of a long-term goal of a sustainable Continuous Improvement culture. In addition, this book presents the implementation of CI as a cyclical journey with no endpoint. The stages are ordered in a sequence that enables the reader to get started in their area of the company and build up the elements without the need for an overall organizational strategy at the beginning. Continuous Improvement is a vast subject with many takes on principles, approaches, and tools. This book is about how all the fundamentals of these areas fit together and, as such, covers only some of them. However, within the bibliography, I have signposted the books that have guided me during my career and which go into the principles, approaches, and tools further.

Currently, businesses are forced to be more innovative than ever before. Organizations must be sensitive to global trends -- such as digitization, globalization, and automation -- and at the same time build resilience and flexibility to combat unexpected changes in customer demand. The coronavirus pandemic is just the most recent and pronounced example of this new-normal business necessity. Amidst the disruption, many businesses are caught not knowing how to proceed. How ought one pursue or achieve innovation for the company? Are there different innovation strategies? Why might a business leader choose one over the other? The Lean Innovation Cycle addresses these concerns by introducing a new multidisciplinary framework for both thinking about and pursing innovation. By taking key concepts from the quality management practices of Lean and Six Sigma, the framework augments these tools and disciplines by incorporating other problem-solving and design techniques, including Human-Centered Design. The result is a view of innovation that many business leaders will find fits nicely into their existing paradigm of strategy and operational discipline. After the introduction of the framework, the book turns to understanding the differences, advantages, and tradeoffs in pursuing Lean Innovation in lieu of traditional, technologically driven innovation approaches. To this end, the book considers issues of sustainability, organizational strategy, and competitive advantage. The result is a thought-provoking dialogue that informs the reader about the key considerations of how best to pursue innovation within their business and the business environment, as well as the circumstances that might make one innovation strategy more congruent to an organization's culture, goals, and objectives than the other.

This book addresses key topics related to organization design and knowledge management in the digital economy with organizational context, particularly in Asia. Asian nations are moving fast toward the digital economy, within which the role of organization design and knowledge management is crucial to support innovative and creative ideas for meeting huge market opportunities where customers are ready for digitalization. The book conceptualizes organization design into three dimensions, people, information, and technology, and offers readers a unique valued insight, bringing new perspectives to understanding emerging business opportunities and challenges in Asia. It presents a valuable collection of 14 chapters with empirical studies from leading researchers. The book addresses digital transformation in companies and organizations in Asia, analysing how disruptive technologies can help them have more efficient organization processes, create innovative products and services, be more resilient and achieve sustainable goals in the post-pandemic time. It fills a gap in the market offering a valuable collection of chapters that combines strategic topics for companies, organizations and nations today, such as digital economy, disruptive technologies, big data and knowledge management, with a specific focus on the Asian region, providing rich examples and studies focused in countries and regions within Asia. Written for scholars, researchers and other specialists in digitalization, this book offers a unique collection of insights into the current and future situation in Asia.

Davanti Nella Gara, an Italian bicycle company, makes the best racing bikes in the world. But after decades of market dominance, competitors have brought the industry leader back to the Peloton. The company's second-generation owner longs for retirement, but a tired product lineup is pushing down profits and the firm's market value will never support his ride into the sunset. The flawed but beloved owner seeks out the counsel of an old friend and successful businessman, who steers him toward a fast and remarkable transformation, one fueled by a relentless focus on innovation excellence. An engaging business novel, Winning Innovation dives into the art and science of innovation; the thrills of the European bike-racing circuit; the vibrant landscape and cuisine of Italy; and a cast of intriguing characters who work to put Davanti on the road to sustained prosperity. The company's leader isn't afraid to learn and apply new ideas to reenergize his company, and finds he cares more about his employees than he could ever imagine. A young innovator struggles to see a product idea to fruition as well as rise into management - and he falls in love along the way. A newly promoted R&D director brings teamwork and transparency to product development and aligns the entire company around innovation. With the help of a seasoned and persistent change agent, in just a year, Davanti deploys a well-defined and -sequenced transformation - a complete and seamless process that can be replicated and scaled by most companies. The leader engages associates in pursuit of the right vision and strategy, candidly supporting them all as they unleash their creative sparks, work through personality conflicts, and take on real-world challenges faced by companies every day. They learn and apply traditional R&D principles in new ways (e.g., cost of delay, sprints, fail fast, late start) and successfully leverage emerging innovation and change-management principles (e.g., idea-creation events, knowledge management, workplace humility, visual management, lean project management). And an aligned, three-phase innovation process - from idea creation to technology development and product design - provides the innovation infrastructure the company needs for revenue creation and success beyond racing bikes. From a top-heavy organization dominated by power struggles and finger-pointing emerges a new Davanti Nella Gara - a flattened, innovative company with: Clear vision and endorsed goals and strategy Speed, responsiveness, and agility Widespread, successful creativity Collaboration and teamwork Superior risk management Respect for people Unquestionable ethics Changed leadership and associate behaviors Project management excellence Rapid problem-solving and experimentation Not just the story of an R&D transformation, Winning Innovation illustrates a companywide transformation of a magnitude that only superior R&D can make possible. It may well be the first book to chronologically introduce the principles for a complete innovation excellence transformation along with the parallel people transformation that is necessary for real change to occur. The end result for Davanti Nella Gara is a dominant new culture based on respect and humility, highly efficient processes that will deliver a wealth of innovations, sales, and profits for many years to come, and an owner who leaves a bright future for the people and company he's known and loved his entire life.

In Keeping Score, the author contends that metrics must be all-encompassing. They must focus not just on the present, but need to consider the past and future. They also must consider the needs of all participants, including customers, shareholders, and employees. Still one must know exactly what to measure, as measuring everything can be more damaging than measuring nothing. Taking a balanced Baldrige approach, this book shows how to evaluate current approaches to measurement and pinpoint false measurements. It covers the selection of financial metrics, ways to measure employee and customer satisfaction, and methods to track performance and measure quality.

The book is unique within the competition as readers will gain an understanding of how to build effectiveness, rather than just efficiency, into their thinking and into the culture of their organisations. The book applies to an international audience in the public sector and also across sectors. Written by two leading authorities and practitioners of public management performance measurement.

This impactful volume demonstrates the application and power of psychology and behavioural economics in the pursuit of quality and continuous improvement. It focusses on how the works of stalwarts such as Daniel Kahneman, Richard Thaler, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and many others can be used to build an organization that is known for quality products and flawless service delivery. The application of psychology and behavioural economics is still new to quality improvement, and in this book, Debashis Sarkar shares 25 lessons, featuring specific examples based on real life, that show how their application can increase the effectiveness of outcomes. Behavioural Science for Quality and Continuous Improvement: 25 Lessons from Psychology and Behavioural Economics is ideal for business improvement professionals of all hierarchies and across different functional areas and industries seeking to understand the potential of psychology and behavioural economics and their applications, as well as in training and executive development programmes and for scholars of operations management, quality management, and engineering.

Currently, businesses are forced to be more innovative than ever before. Organizations must be sensitive to global trends -- such as digitization, globalization, and automation -- and at the same time build resilience and flexibility to combat unexpected changes in customer demand. The coronavirus pandemic is just the most recent and pronounced example of this new-normal business necessity. Amidst the disruption, many businesses are caught not knowing how to proceed. How ought one pursue or achieve innovation for the company? Are there different innovation strategies? Why might a business leader choose one over the other? The Lean Innovation Cycle addresses these concerns by introducing a new multidisciplinary framework for both thinking about and pursing innovation. By taking key concepts from the quality management practices of Lean and Six Sigma, the framework augments these tools and disciplines by incorporating other problem-solving and design techniques, including Human-Centered Design. The result is a view of innovation that many business leaders will find fits nicely into their existing paradigm of strategy and operational discipline. After the introduction of the framework, the book turns to understanding the differences, advantages, and tradeoffs in pursuing Lean Innovation in lieu of traditional, technologically driven innovation approaches. To this end, the book considers issues of sustainability, organizational strategy, and competitive advantage. The result is a thought-provoking dialogue that informs the reader about the key considerations of how best to pursue innovation within their business and the business environment, as well as the circumstances that might make one innovation strategy more congruent to an organization's culture, goals, and objectives than the other.

A bestselling Six Sigma author tells employees everything they need to know about the Lean Six Sigma strategy

Lean Six Sigma combines the two most important and popular quality trends of our time: Six Sigma and Lean Production. What Is Lean Six Sigma? is a simple primer on Lean Six Sigma, written for employees and designed to be bought in large quantities by organizations rolling out Lean Six Sigma initiatives.

The book explains why companies are implementing Lean Six Sigma, why employees should care, and how they can help make it a success in their organization, with tips on how to:

• Battle the evil of variation in a business process and eliminate waste
  
• Speed up the product development cycle
  
• Reduce costs dramatically in one year
  

Digitalisation and Organisation Design aims to address key topics related to organisation design and knowledge management in the digital economy with organisational context, particularly in Asia. Asian nations are moving fast toward the digital economy. Doing business in the digital economy is different from the old way, and the role of organisation design and knowledge management is crucial to support innovative and creative ideas for tapping the huge market opportunities in which people are ready for digitalisation. Chapters in the book cover important topics related to organisation design and knowledge management for organisations, especially business organisations in Asia, to prepare and cultivate necessary means for advancing in the digital economy. This book offers readers a unique value, bringing new perspectives to understanding emerging business opportunities and challenges in Asia. It will present a valuable collection of chapters with empirical studies from leading researchers on the related topic within the main theme (Asian economies, digitalisation, knowledge management, organisational design). The collection of chapters will be conceptually and practically beneficial for academics, students and policy makers interested in the latest developments in organisation design and knowledge management in the digital economy in Asia. This book can be used as a main or supplementary resource for undergraduate and postgraduate students in business and related areas.

This impactful volume demonstrates the application and power of psychology and behavioural economics in the pursuit of quality and continuous improvement. It focusses on how the works of stalwarts such as Daniel Kahneman, Richard Thaler, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and many others can be used to build an organization that is known for quality products and flawless service delivery. The application of psychology and behavioural economics is still new to quality improvement, and in this book, Debashis Sarkar shares 25 lessons, featuring specific examples based on real life, that show how their application can increase the effectiveness of outcomes. Behavioural Science for Quality and Continuous Improvement: 25 Lessons from Psychology and Behavioural Economics is ideal for business improvement professionals of all hierarchies and across different functional areas and industries seeking to understand the potential of psychology and behavioural economics and their applications, as well as in training and executive development programmes and for scholars of operations management, quality management, and engineering.

In this book, the authors relate Total Quality Management (TQM) to the broader organisation and environment in the context in which TQM is located, bringing in consideration of organisational culture and structure, of employee relations and the balance of power between management and employees and the role of Human Resource Management. This involves a critical appraisal of TQM, considering both the way in which employees perceive its operation in practice and the question of 'who gains what' from TQM.

This book provides a comprehensive look at four driving philosophies of lean methodology that many companies struggle to understand. Companies often adopt lean methodologies and work hard to perfect the use of those methods while never understanding the true intent of the method. Ultimately, knowledge does not equal understanding. "Customer First" is about each manufacturing process sending the next manufacturing process a high-quality defect-free product every time. When people hear the word "customer," their mindset is thinking about the end user, but when a company understands that every process has a customer, a high-quality product is produced at each stage of the manufacturing process. As kids, most of us grew up hearing the phrase "respect your elders," and while this still applies, respect for people has additional and stronger connotations. In business, the work content must fit the capacity - in lay terms, a fair day's work for a fair wage. Setting up our colleagues for failure by giving them more work content than can be completed is not showing them respect, and in essence, it is simply disrespectful. In addition, respect is how we develop and engage our colleagues in their daily work. The idea "Go and See" is often overlooked because we know the process in which the problem exists, but if we evaluate what is actually happening, we generally find that what "should be" happening isn't. As people view what is happening, questions will come to mind: how does the operator know to do that? Does the standard work give that knowledge? These questions lead to giving clarity about the problem and will drive the thinking to a solution. Business in general is dynamic and ever changing. Companies must be able to adapt, overcome, and improvise to remain competitive. The challenge is identifying where to target or how to develop a continuous improvement culture in the workforce to drive improvement. Companies get stuck in the mindset of "this is how we have always done it" and this mindset can be a very limiting or even crippling situation. The Four Philosophies of Lean: Maintaining a Customer-Focused Culture Every Day at Work helps readers change mindsets and solve difficult situations.

This book provides a comprehensive look at four driving philosophies of lean methodology that many companies struggle to understand. Companies often adopt lean methodologies and work hard to perfect the use of those methods while never understanding the true intent of the method. Ultimately, knowledge does not equal understanding. "Customer First" is about each manufacturing process sending the next manufacturing process a high-quality defect-free product every time. When people hear the word "customer," their mindset is thinking about the end user, but when a company understands that every process has a customer, a high-quality product is produced at each stage of the manufacturing process. As kids, most of us grew up hearing the phrase "respect your elders," and while this still applies, respect for people has additional and stronger connotations. In business, the work content must fit the capacity - in lay terms, a fair day's work for a fair wage. Setting up our colleagues for failure by giving them more work content than can be completed is not showing them respect, and in essence, it is simply disrespectful. In addition, respect is how we develop and engage our colleagues in their daily work. The idea "Go and See" is often overlooked because we know the process in which the problem exists, but if we evaluate what is actually happening, we generally find that what "should be" happening isn't. As people view what is happening, questions will come to mind: how does the operator know to do that? Does the standard work give that knowledge? These questions lead to giving clarity about the problem and will drive the thinking to a solution. Business in general is dynamic and ever changing. Companies must be able to adapt, overcome, and improvise to remain competitive. The challenge is identifying where to target or how to develop a continuous improvement culture in the workforce to drive improvement. Companies get stuck in the mindset of "this is how we have always done it" and this mindset can be a very limiting or even crippling situation. The Four Philosophies of Lean: Maintaining a Customer-Focused Culture Every Day at Work helps readers change mindsets and solve difficult situations.

This book gives the reader an inside look at creating a new healthcare service using practical examples and scenarios one would face if doing it themselves. This book chronicles the journey of a fictitious healthcare delivery organization using the Simpler Design System principles based on Lean methodologies. While the characters and actual story is fictitious, it is based on the journey many healthcare systems and clients have taken, the issues they have faced, and the successes and failures they've had. Tools and approaches used are based on the actual work of Simpler. The story format engages readers and is intended to motivate and inspire executive teams to use the tenets of the book as a guide to launch their own successful implementation of an idea-to-launch methodology. Tools include those gleaned from actual application of Lean Product Development, Agile, Design for Six Sigma, and Design Thinking Principles. Through engaging storytelling and practical theory, this book is written from the perspective of a physician leader that agrees to be the executive sponsor for a service redesign. As the story progresses, the sponsor becomes fascinated with the process and becomes the first VP of Innovation within his organization.

Local government plays a critical role in the provision of governance, infrastructure, and services for local communities. Over the past 30 years this sector has undergone significant reforms because of various superordinate governments policy changes. Continuous improvement and quality programs have been a common tactical response undertaken by various local government organisations to remain sustainable and to continue to deliver value to their local communities. These tactical responses have had varying levels of success. This book seeks to go beyond a tactical focus and uncover the kinds of continuous improvement practices that are enacted in various local government contexts. A focus on practices enables practitioners and researchers alike to gain insights that to go beyond approaches which privilege the application of CI tools over the contextualisation of CI programs. Contextualisation affords the insightful deployment of programs that are specific to the needs and dynamics of local communities and operations. The cases presented share insights on aspects of CI including: embedding performance measurement; harnessing learning; contextualising CI activities to support the ongoing sustainability of these practices. Researchers and practitioners alike can draw benefit from the grounded industry base experiences and insights shared in the book.

Quality healthcare is a cornerstone of any healthy society. In the U.S., we have access to sophisticated medical technology, world renowned physicians, highly trained nurses and hospital personnel, advanced pharmaceuticals, and innovations in diagnosis and treatment. But for all of our sophistication, serious problems afflict healthcare systems across the U.S. today - problems that cause severe hardship for families in communities large and small. Considering its impact on society, healthcare is arguably our most important industry. Good health is a key aspect of a productive and fulfilling life no matter what a person's age, cultural background, social status or career. To live well and provide for ourselves and others, we all depend on a strong healthcare system that can help us prevent illness and access effective treatment when we need it. Needless to say, building and maintaining that robust healthcare system is no easy task. According to a report by the Institute of Medicine, up to 98,000 deaths per year occur in U.S. hospitals as a result of adverse events. In other words, errors in hospitals cause more annual deaths than acceptable and are totally preventable. With the healthcare system in such critical condition, Lean is the best possible treatment as it moves to eliminate waste and improve processes. The revised edition of Taking Improvement from the Assembly Line to Healthcare supplies step-by-step guidance on how to implement Lean methods to achieve world-class improvement with the healthcare industry. The updated edition of this Shingo award winner book provides specific examples of Lean implementation in emergency medicine, diagnostic imaging, orthopedic clinics, general internal medicine, administration, and community care. Highlighting quality, safety, and financial evidence as to why immediate change is both possible and essential, the book provides a firm foundation in Lean improvement and the tools used to deliver sustainable solutions. This revised edition presents new and updated client interviews and how the process has changed or been enhanced, what worked and what didn't work. New case studies from U.S. and Canada provide readers with the real-world understanding needed to embark and sustain a successful improvement journey.

Staying Small Successfully A Guide for Architects, Engineers, and Design Professionals Frank A. Stasiowski Today’s design professional with entrepreneurial ambitions often has in mind a small firm. Written by a veteran architect and consultant, here is a clear, detailed road map to setting up a small business or guiding an existing one to success. Using miniprofiles of several small successful design firms, the author pinpoints exactly what’s made them flourish. In a step-by-step format, he describes the six elements of the strategic planning process, tips on doubling average profit levels, building a loyal clientele, making your company a magnet for top talent, as well as measuring the financial health of your firm. This all-in-one seminar includes numerous checklists and flowcharts, a list of design firm management consultants, a typical marketing plan, and a survey of typical marketing costs. 1991 (0-471-50652-4) 297 pp. Value Pricing for the Design Firm Frank A. Stasiowski Essential to the design firm negotiating tough economic times, here is a handbook to garnering the most effective price for your services. Making the traditional cost-per-hour approach obsolete, the book teaches you how to price services based on their value to your client. Full of tactics that can be applied immediately, the book outlines the different methods of value pricing, ways to create value, a format for charging minimum fees, and a formula for price contracts. Other practical pricing tips include mini-scoping your services, charging for reimbursables, pricing change orders, as well as advice on negotiating a better contract. Complete with sample forms and lists, the book is a practical, easy-to-implement recession survival kit for the design firm. 1993 (0-471-57933-5) 240 pp. Cash Management for the Design Firm Frank A. Stasiowski While excellence in design and engineering may generate clients, monitoring and planning the movement of cash is central to a company’s survival. This practical guide outlines a det! ailed cash management plan that makes continued financial health possible even during lean economic times. Using a clear, easy-to-implement approach, the book describes: cash management techniques, project budgeting, profitable project pricing structures, controlling project and overhead costs, getting paid, and planning and monitoring performance. The book also includes valuable advice on negotiating a contract, the most profitable contract types, the purchasing process, acquiring capital equipment, and internal financial controls. Numerous checklists and exercises as well as sample reports and financial documents are included. 1993 (0-471-59711-2) 324 pp.

This is a practical guide for those who do the work of maintaining and improving the reliability of mechanical machinery. It is for engineers and skilled trades personnel who want to understand how failures happen and how the physical causes of the great majority can be readily diagnosed in the field. It explains the four major failure mechanisms, wear, corrosion, overload, and fatigue and, using easy-to-read charts, how they can be diagnosed at the site of the failure. Then, knowing the physical failure mechanics involved, the reader can accurately solve the human causes. To improve the reader's understanding, all the diagrams and most of the tables have been redrawn. The number of actual failure examples has been increased, plus the last chapter on miscellaneous machine elements includes new material on couplings, universal joints, and plain bearings. Features A practical field guide showing how to recognize how failures occur that can be used to solve more than 85% of mechanical machinery failures Incorporates multiple easy-to-follow logic trees to help the reader diagnose the physical causes of the failure without needing detailed laboratory analysis Explains how the mechanics, corrosion, materials science, and tribology of components can fit together to improve machinery reliability Includes more than 150 completely redrawn charts and tables, plus almost 250 actual failure photographs to help guide the reader to an accurate analysis Contains clear and detailed explanations of how lubricants function and the critical roles of corrosion and lubrication play in causing mechanical failures

In a comprehensive approach this book covers the end-to-end process from request management to change management, error management and migration management to acceptance testing and final data clean up. It is based upon nearly twenty years of experience in tests, acceptance and certification, when introducing medium to large IT systems including complex software for administrations and industry in many countries. There exist a variety of methodologies with different characteristics having emanated from various schools and consultancies to support such activities. However, it is obvious that because of the diversity in organisational levels in companies the rigor of application of such methodologies quite often suffers with regard to more pragmatic approaches. In view of economic considerations this may be unavoidable. For this reason no new or consolidated methodology shall be presented but an approach oriented on practical criteria coming closer to reality and offering methods, which can provide assistance on a case-by-case basis.