Many businesses have a legacy of systems and processes that aren't used. When I ask about the history of these systems I am often left with stories about how the systems weren't used and therefore a new system was introduced. You can guess what the pattern is can’t you? The next system doesn't get embedded into the way the business operates and that too falls over. Instead of addressing the issue (we don’t persist at improving and embedding a system) we try to reinvent the wheel. It’s a well known phrase, but does your business re-invent the wheel rather than addressing the problem ? Giles Johnston Author, Consultant and Chartered Engineer

Have you heard that joke about the dog lying on the porch? The one where the dog is whining? The one where the dog’s owner tells his visiting friend that the dog is lying on a nail sticking out of a floorboard? The one where the friend find’s out that the dog would move if he was in serious pain? Have you heard that one? It’s funny how improvement projects often take some form of near catastrophic accident in order for them to stimulate certain types of businesses. Some businesses make it part of who they are, to keep on searching for new and better ways of doing whatever it is that they do. What kind of business are you? Are you hungry, or do you need the pain? Giles Johnston Author, Consultant and Chartered Engineer

One of the questions I get asked is ‘ when is it a good time to improve ?’ This question is usually asked by people who need to make changes to their business but cannot find the time to make changes of any sort. Fire fighting and running around are order of the day and you can see why this question would be asked. I don’t think there is ever a good time to improve, it’s just one of those things we need to embrace and get on with. There are ways to make life easier of course when implementing change. Breaking projects up into tiny steps is a good one and so is sharing the workload. Perhaps, and this is the point of this post, my answer to the question is ‘at the start of the day’. When we perform our small contribution to the improvement project at the start of the day it is given the best chance of success for actually happening. Also, if you subscribe to Parkinson’s Law, then you will catch up with the other tasks of the day and have made some improvement. Could it

Reports, system data, and business information. It’s great stuff, shame so many businesses don’t use it properly. If we used the information to make better decisions wouldn't it be great? What do you do with your business information? Do you apply intelligence to it in order to make your business work more productively? Or does it just pass you by? Giles Johnston Author, Consultant and Chartered Engineer

What have you done today to make you feel proud?  Whether or not you are a fan of Heather Small, these words make you think!  Times are tough at the moment on a lot of levels for a lot of people; the economy is still unreliable, customers are more demanding than ever, utilities and everyday costs continue to rise and Spring is ever elusive! Some of you will be thinking life is difficult enough without taking on any more challenges, but are you forgetting to notice the things that make you feel proud? Alternatives to proud include satisfied, pleased or fulfilled - all key components of contentment and wellbeing.  So feeling proud is essential to how you feel generally, how you perform in your role, and crucially, your levels of resilience.  However, we don't often associate these words with our job or work role. Think for a minute; when was the last time you noticed feeling  satisfied, pleased or fulfilled by something you did at work?  Whatever makes you satisfied

If you've read my book On Time Delivery you will have come across the 'Big Brain' award I gave to one of my team members for his application of continuous improvement. He didn't use fancy techniques or methods he just used some common sense and stopped accepting the way things were. No longer did he tolerate the capacity problems in his departments. No longer did he accept the number of breakdowns that were occurring. No longer did he live with the long tool changeover times. Sometimes it is the smaller things that we can change that can have the greatest impact, and sometimes getting people to get involved is one of the hardest tasks. A really simple way to get people involved, and great if you are starting any kind of lean manufacturing orientated project, is waste walking . Go for a walk through your business and spot the opportunities. Waste walking is something I get emailed about quite often and so our waste walking kit is now availab

Now available at Amazon It seems like books are similar to buses, nothing for a while and then two come together! The bank holiday here in England has been put to good effect and the other book I have been working on for quite some time is now available. Titled ' On Time Delivery ' it is an account of a real lean manufacturing story from a time when I was a Production Manager. It charts some of the highs and lows of trying to sort out the on time delivery problems we were having and my journey to achieve the performance goals I had set for the business. It is available directly from Amazon for the Kindle reading app / device or from most other online e-book retailers (you may have to wait a few weeks from the date of this blog post for iBooks, Kobo, Nook and Sony stores). You can also get the right format via Smashwords . Anyway, if you choose to buy it I hope you enjoy the journey. Learning points are plentiful within the book, so you should be able to f