Top Picks: Wise Energy Resource Choices
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Joe Rizzo, world-class manager at Saft (the leading designer, developer, and manufacturer of advanced technology batteries for industrial and defense applications) recently shared his recommendations for helpful resources related to energy-conscious resource planning. He also served as chair of the 2009 Association for
Manufacturing Excellence (AME) annual conference.
www.nrdc.org/buildinggreen/leed.asp
National Resources Defense Council. This website offers a link to information on the U.S. Green Building Green Council’s LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification process and related documents, a directory of LEED-certified professionals. This certification provides proof that an organization achieved environmental goals in its building’s performance.
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www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CategoryID=19
U.S. Green Building Council. Learn about the LEED certification program, what it measures, what it delivers, and how to get started.
www.babcockranchflorida.com
Information on Babcock Ranch, “southwest Florida’s city of tomorrow.” It is the first city planned to be powered by the sun. Most of its electrical needs are supplied as energy generated from the largest on-site photovoltaic energy facility powering any city on earth.
www.thebatteryshow.com
The Battery Show is an expo for advanced battery technology. As the world begins to adopt electric and hybrid vehicles and rely increasingly on renewable resources to satisfy its thirst for power, the battery industry stands to benefit from unprecedented growth.
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Saft is a leading designer, developer, and manufacturer of advanced technology batteries for industrial and defense applications.
www.batteryuniversity.com
This website provides practical battery information for engineers, educators, and others. Material is derived from the book Batteries in a Portable World; A Handbook for Rechargeable Batteries for Non-Engineers.
www.electronics.howstuffworks.com/everyday-tech/lithium-ion-battery.htm
Information here explains lithium-ion technology, which is used to power laptops, cell phones, iPods, and other devices.
www.solaramericacommunities.energy.gov/Cities.aspx?City=Sacramento
This website highlights solar communities in the United States, with particular emphasis on Sacramento, CA.
The New Edge in Knowledge
How knowledge management is changing the way we do business.
Authors: Carla O’Dell and Cindy Hubert
John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, NJ
226 pp.
$45
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The first three chapters of this book establish the positioning of knowledge management (KM), a call to action, and the business case for including KM in the business strategy. The next four chapters delve into possible approaches and internal governance used by leading companies. The last three chapters discuss the required knowledge-sharing culture, performance metrics, and process improvement. The appendix goes into detail on four best practice case studies: Conoco-Phillips, Fluor, IBM, and MITRE.
The authors are among the leading proponents of successful KM strategy deployment in the world. Their insight is from real applications and continuous process improvement. They started the first KM conference about 16 years ago and have been on the forefront ever since.
O’Dell and Hubert suggest that mapping your company’s knowledge is an excellent way to start. KM should be done in several venues: expertise on hand, critical knowledge to the company, and process knowledge. By looking at your knowledge through these different lenses, you can identify actions to capture your intellectual assets.
I enjoyed Chapter 10, which explains how important KM performance measures are to sustain the KM program and prove the value to all the stakeholders: senior executives, KM leaders, and participants. All have different expectations that need to be addressed. The three categories that need to be included are activity, process efficiency, and business/financial. My advice is for all senior executives to read this book and include a KM strategy in their company’s portfolio. We are all dependent on using our knowledge to stay ahead and gain a competitive advantage.
Review by Bill Baker, Speed To Excellence, Santa Fe, NM. He is a member of the Target editorial board and is the Association for Manufacturing Excellence (AME) vice president of alliances.
Gemba Walks
Learn lessons from the author who lived the experiences.
Author: Jim Womack
Lean Enterprise Institute, Inc.
Cambridge, MA, 2011, 348 pp.
$25
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The latest book from Jim Womack, Gemba Walks, shares the many journeys of discovery that he has taken over the past two decades. Gemba means “the actual place” in Japanese. Womack has visited hundreds of factories, service centers, and distribution sites to learn and then share his understandings with us. Gemba Walks also provides the reader with many of those insightful monthly letters to the membership that he wrote during his term as president of the Lean Enterprise Institute (LEI).
Each selected LEI letter, with the introduction and conclusion provided in the book, gives us his insight, reasoning, and conclusions, further enhanced with his hindsight and reflection. One of the nicest features of Gemba Walks is the ability to refer to the table of contents or index, find topical material, then reread the section and see how the learning can be relevant while facing a current challenge.
Of particular interest in the book is the basis for its existence. It is found in the essay that Womack wrote in November 2010 addressing what managers need to do to create value. He asked that we all take a moment of reflection and really determine if we are “walking” the talk and modeling the behavior that we expect to see in our teams. He also provided an excellent strategy for determining what our organization should really be doing: effectively deploying those few key initiatives, stabilizing the organization, and then creating the next generation of lean managers to carry forward the mission.
Expect this book to be well-worn, tabbed, and earmarked within the first few months of reading it. It provides a great reference to help you reflect on perennial issues that lean leaders face every day.
Recommended reading times: before gemba walks, after gemba walks, and any time you need guidance.
Review by Jerry M. Wright, P.E., senior vice president of lean and enterprise excellence at DJO Global, Inc. and the conference chair for the 2012 AME Annual Conference in Chicago. He is a Shingo Prize and past Baldrige examiner. Wright’s organization received Top Ten Best Plants from IndustryWeek, the Shingo Prize, and the AME Manufacturing Excellence Award. He is chair of the So Cal Lean Network and the lead instructor for the lean enterprise certificate course at the University of California at San Diego.
Worth Noting
e2 Continuous Improvement System: Managing and Sustaining Your Lean Transformation through the e2 “Everybody, EverydaySM” Approach to Lean, by Bruce Hamilton and Pat Wardwell, GBMP, Inc., Boston, 2011.
Published by the Greater Boston Manufacturing Partnership, Inc. (GBMP), this book offers counsel and practical suggestions for unlocking human creativity, and building collaborative relationships among management, workers, departments, customers, and suppliers. Read about “true north” thinking, management kaizen, control and monitoring, idea systems, and system assessment.
Design for Environment: A Guide to Sustainable Product Development, second edition, by Joseph Fiksel, McGraw-Hill, New York, 2009.
Principles of design for environment, product life cycle management, and performance indicators, with examples from chemical, transportation, food and beverage, materials production, and other industries.
Lean Labor: A Survival Guide for Companies Facing Global Competition, by Gregg Gordon, One World Press, Chino Valley, AZ, 2011.
Balancing labor and demand, labor costing as a competitive advantage, improving daily operational decision making, and productivity improvement suggestions.
On the Mend: Revolutionizing Healthcare to Save Lives and Transform the Industry, by John Toussaint, MD, and Roger A. Gerard, PhD, with Emily Adams, Lean Enterprise Institute, Cambridge, MA, 2010.
Candid description of ThedaCare’s lean improvement journey. Wisconsin-based ThedaCare embraced Toyota Production System (TPS) concepts, adapting improvement tools in its customer-focused lean initiatives.
