Ian R Lazarus

In a world where every minute matters, a car rental turns into a frustrating ordeal of delays and inefficiencies. Will I reach my important meeting on time, or will I be exposed to the 8 deadly wastes?

Quality professionals know that even a little data can be misleading for upper management, leading to bad decisions in industries.

How well do the people responsible for meeting the quality standards understand the standards? Quality managers have access to effective tools to ensure that both the quality team and the entire organization are well-grounded in the most important standards.

"Big data," according to Amit Kara, contains more variables and potential security risks. The challenge lies in leveraging it.

While examining a privately-owned sailboat, as a certified Vessel Examiner with the US Coast Guard Auxiliary, I realized the importance of profiling the Coast Guard's quality focus. What could it teach us about quality? It turns out, a lot.

If you feel you need to calibrate your quality radar, do your customers a favor, and get out of town.

"For years, I've been told, 'The safest part of your journey has come to an end.' Initially, I took this to mean just getting home from the airport, but now I question, 'Was I ever truly safe to begin with?'"

Are you struggling to implement Lean methods in your organization? In this column, we will discuss the biggest obstacle to practicing Lean and how emotionally intelligent leaders can address resistance from staff to successfully implement improvement methods.

How to best walk the tightrope between satisfying customers, stake holders, and budgets.

The practice of Lean, and its close cousin “Six Sigma,” can offer powerful benefits to the executive that understands how to leverage the principles. And they can offer you a winning hand.