Adam Lawrence 9/22/21 Adam Lawrence 9/22/21

The Strength of Ownership

Tips and tricks for facilitators to create ownership in the team.

A series of Post-it notes attached to a wall. They are yellow and orange and 3 inches by 3 inches.

Adam Lawrence 9/8/21 Adam Lawrence 9/8/21

Speaking Up Takes Courage

Don't wait too long to find out if you're heading in the right (or wrong) direction.

In a classroom, where a teacher is speaking at the front of the room, a female student in the back is raising her hand, reluctantly.

Adam Lawrence 8/25/21 Adam Lawrence 8/25/21

Ownership at the Right Level

Our Pilot Plant strategy helped us eliminate the need for the HATED annual clean up.

Dozens of tools laid out on a table, in a very organized way. Similar tools are placed together.

Adam Lawrence 8/1/21 Adam Lawrence 8/1/21

Line Up and Do the Right Thing

Sometimes you have to put yourself in the middle to protect the interests of the team.

An overhead view of a factory, with lengths of wood being cut and stored. The shipping doors are blocked with materials.

Adam Lawrence 7/7/21 Adam Lawrence 7/7/21

Fix it and make a difference

In a factory with thousands of improvement opportunities, helping just one person made it all worthwhile.

A factory worker, wearing a brown jacket, pushing a large cube of products along a track. He's straining to make the product move along.

Adam Lawrence 5/26/21 Adam Lawrence 5/26/21

Listen to your People, People

Although you can't schedule invention, you can reduce waste in the process leading up to it.

Three people in business suits, talking around a meeting table. There is a white board to the right and a bottle of water on the table.

Adam Lawrence 5/12/21 Adam Lawrence 5/12/21

Shine a Light on the Problem

Truly understanding the problem to be solved helped the team come up with a breakthrough solution.

A well lit metal ceiling, with square lights placed every 4 feet.

Adam Lawrence 5/12/21 Adam Lawrence 5/12/21

If it Fits, it Ships

Using Tell, Show, and Do prevented a problem that would have created a poor customer experience.

A clean and organized warehouse, well lit, with everything on shelves and off of the floor.

Adam Lawrence 4/28/21 Adam Lawrence 4/28/21

This Stuff Works

Credibility was gained from the user of the system, rather than the "expert".

A series of tools, including wrenches, pliers, and gears, laid out on a table in an organized way.

Adam Lawrence 4/14/21 Adam Lawrence 4/14/21

Macon Progress

The day I learned a hard lesson about Leadership Commitment and almost got fired.

Shadow image of two people having a lively discussion.

Adam Lawrence 3/31/21 Adam Lawrence 3/31/21

Go to Gemba, even if you don't want to

This is the story of how I challenged the plant manager to go to the Gemba to verify his assumptions about the factory floor. Spoiler alert - he learned something he wasn’t expecting.

Four people, all wearing grey shirts, one female, three male, discussing an issue on a factory floor.

Adam Lawrence 3/17/21 Adam Lawrence 3/17/21

Gemba Walks

The story of how I helped a team from St. Helens improve their gemba walk and directly improve productivity.

Four people wearing yellow safety vests, one of the with a pad of paper in his hand, walking on a factory floor.

Adam Lawrence 3/3/21 Adam Lawrence 3/3/21

Best Event Ever

My catch phrase for Kaizen events caught on throughout the organization and created energy and excitement for process improvement.

Many people putting their hands on top of each other to signify teamwork and alignment.

Adam Lawrence 2/17/21 Adam Lawrence 2/17/21

Attention to Detail

This is story of how getting people to utilize standard work improved performance immediately and significantly.

An industry standard 5S audit sheet, with twelve categories to evaluate.

Adam Lawrence 2/3/21 Adam Lawrence 2/3/21

Call 911

By creating three questions, we were able to save critical minutes of preparation for the maintenance department.

A person using a desk phone to call someone. The handset is in his left hand and his right hand is pushing the number 6.

Adam Lawrence 1/20/21 Adam Lawrence 1/20/21

A Tasty Breakthrough

When our experienced engineer crushed cornflakes over the ceiling tile, we knew we had our answer.

Adam Lawrence 12/9/20 Adam Lawrence 12/9/20

Go See For Yourself

When we saw what was actually happening behind the paint booth during changeover, we were horrified.

A painter, wearing a blue cap and safety glasses, holding a paint roller and getting ready to paint the room.

Adam Lawrence 11/25/20 Adam Lawrence 11/25/20

Training in the Moment

During a changeover reduction Kaizen at a gummy vitamin factory, the team learned how to use “Tell, Show, and Do” to solidify the training for the crew.

A digital clock, mounted on the wall, displaying 12:24:30 pm

Adam Lawrence 11/11/20 Adam Lawrence 11/11/20

Rally to the Customer

Our vendor wasn’t able to make our special ceiling tiles anymore, so we had to figure out how to produce them in our Pilot Plant.

A smiling warehouse worker, transporting a blue barrel on a dolly.

Adam Lawrence 10/14/20 Adam Lawrence 10/14/20

Beer is the Answer

The crew wasn’t interested in reducing scrap, as it was too vague a concept for them. Once I compared our losses to amounts of beer, the light bulbs of understanding came on.

Many different sizes of beer bottles, lined up on a table.