Butt Ugly by Friday

Kaizen is messy. It should be so accessible that anyone can do it. So, I use a phrase that I was taught many years ago, to make it okay to try and fail and learn quickly. The phrase? Butt Ugly by Friday!

Hope is a Precious Commodity

Once the workers in Mississippi saw how quickly the reliability techniques made their line safer and more efficient, they became unstoppable.

The Unexpected Benefit

Customer focus, Innovation, Kaizen Success Stories, Lean, OperationsAdam LawrenceAugust 4, 2025Process Improvement Partners LLCTeamwork, Kaizen, quality, Innovation

Never Tell Someone Their Baby's Ugly

Customer focus, Kaizen Success Stories, Lean, LearningAdam LawrenceMarch 15, 2025Process Improvement Partners LLCTeamwork, Kaizen, Alignment

Macon a Productivity Improvement

Customer focus, Kaizen Success Stories, Lean, OperationsAdam LawrenceFebruary 15, 2025Process Improvement Partners LLCreliability, Kaizen, teamwork

My First True Gemba Walk

Customer focus, Innovation, Kaizen Success Stories, Lean, LearningAdam LawrenceDecember 19, 2024Process Improvement Partners LLCGemba walk, Leadership, Voice of the customer, Kaizen

Diving into the Deep End

Customer focus, Innovation, Kaizen Success Stories, leadership, Lean, Operations, LearningAdam LawrenceOctober 10, 2024Process Improvement Partners LLCInnovation, Safety, Customer Focus, Kaizen

Zigging and Zagging Along the Way

Customer focus, Kaizen Success Stories, leadership, Lean, Learning, ServicesAdam LawrenceSeptember 26, 2024Process Improvement Partners LLCFacilitation, Kaizen, Voice of the Customer

The Bottleneck

The COO loved my work, but couldn't afford to bring me down to his company every week. He challenged me to upskill his employees to take over the Kaizen event responsibilities. Challenge accepted!

Leadership Commitment in a Challenging Situation

When my team leader came down with COVID, I thought it would be wise to delay the Kaizen event. He wanted to push through and joined us virtually on the first day. Even without him physically in the room with the team, we didn't miss a beat and made some significant improvements.

Getting More than they Bargained for

We were conducting the first 5S Kaizen at the plant. With so much disorganization and clutter, it was affecting the team's changeover performance. When I introduced the concept of Spaghetti Diagrams, it opened their eyes to the possibilities and reduced the changeover time by more than 50%.

Like a Pro

One of our team members was shy and reserved and didn't want to present during the report out. We were able to convince him and he was so passionate about our improvements, the audience was inspired.