Learning from Mistakes Requires Getting Past Your Emotions September 20, 2012
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in Lean Tools & Techniques, Mistake Proofing.Tags: mistake-proofing
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A hard-hitting piece at The Mistake Bank elaborates on the need to separate actions from emotions, in order to get the best out of mistakes. A lesson learned from a mistake can become the greatest asset or tool in work and in life. By accepting responsibility and learning from what has gone wrong, people can move forward in greater strength.
Check out the Mistake Bank post here.
A Wristband that Forces Doctors to Wash their Hands and Save Lives September 20, 2012
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in healthcare, Mistake Proofing.Tags: healthcare, mistake-proofing
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A new wristband, secured around the wrists of doctors and medical personnel, aims to cut down on hospital acquired infections and illnesses –much of it from the failure of medical professionals to commit simple tasks, such as washing their hands. The new wristband system, Hyginex, consists of soap dispensers and wristbands, alerting doctors when they either have not washed their hands, or haven’t washed them well enough. The system will also keep a log of doctors and how well they clean their hands.
For photos of the system, and more information, head here.
Carnival Cruise Reviews: Toilet Poka Yoke December 19, 2011
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in Mistake Proofing.Tags: mistake-proofing
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Much to the delight of Pete Abilla, writing over at Shmula, Carnival Cruise toilets have a system whereby men are not yelled at for forgetting to put the seat down. The upturned seat obscures the flush button; in order to flush the toilet, the seat must be lowered.
For some pictures and the amusing post, head here.
Carnival Cruise Reviews: Toilet Poka Yoke December 19, 2011
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in Mistake Proofing.Tags: mistake-proofing
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Much to the delight of Pete Abilla, writing over at Shmula, Carnival Cruise toilets have a system whereby men are not yelled at for forgetting to put the seat down. The upturned seat obscures the flush button; in order to flush the toilet, the seat must be lowered.
For some pictures and the amusing post, head here.
Sleeping Air Traffic Controllers: Mistake-Proofing Anyone? June 2, 2011
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in Lean Thinking, Mistake Proofing, workforce.Tags: Lean Thinking, mistake-proofing, workforce
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Sam Hoskins, guest writing over at Gemba Tales, talks about the seeming pandemic of sleeping third-shift air traffic controllers. The causes range from lack of sleep to boringness of the third shift. The FAA suspends, fires, or hires people for the third shift, rather than seeking to solve the problems of the third shift. Some ideas proposed include taking on a college intern and putting in a CCTV camera to security.
Check out Mr. Hoskins’s post here.
Sleeping Air Traffic Controllers: Mistake-Proofing Anyone? June 2, 2011
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in Lean Thinking, Mistake Proofing, workforce.Tags: Lean Thinking, mistake-proofing, workforce
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Sam Hoskins, guest writing over at Gemba Tales, talks about the seeming pandemic of sleeping third-shift air traffic controllers. The causes range from lack of sleep to boringness of the third shift. The FAA suspends, fires, or hires people for the third shift, rather than seeking to solve the problems of the third shift. Some ideas proposed include taking on a college intern and putting in a CCTV camera to security.
Check out Mr. Hoskins’s post here.
Preventing Mistakes: Not Just Chump Change February 21, 2011
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in Mistake Proofing.Tags: mistake-proofing
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Companies, rather than simply committing to mistake-proofing, prefer the route of major initiatives to transform themselves. Sam Hoskins, in a guest post at Gemba Tales, explains to readers that simple mistake-proofing needs to take into account the concept of human errors. Among the most common are setup errors, Mr. Hoskins notes. He also offers a list of suggestions that help mistake-proofing, including the idea of not getting hung up on the root cause itself.
Check out the post here.
Preventing Mistakes: Not Just Chump Change February 21, 2011
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in Mistake Proofing.Tags: mistake-proofing
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Companies, rather than simply committing to mistake-proofing, prefer the route of major initiatives to transform themselves. Sam Hoskins, in a guest post at Gemba Tales, explains to readers that simple mistake-proofing needs to take into account the concept of human errors. Among the most common are setup errors, Mr. Hoskins notes. He also offers a list of suggestions that help mistake-proofing, including the idea of not getting hung up on the root cause itself.
Check out the post here.
Variability and Vulnerability in the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain September 24, 2010
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in supply chain.Tags: mistake-proofing, supply chain
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Supply trains have more than their fair share of problems, and those problems are especially inherent pharmaceutical supply chains. A lack of uniformity, for example, in the production of raw materials in different places with different regulatory standards, can have dire consequences (such as the 2008 Heparin incident which claimed 81lives.) The e-Pedigree (a traceable history of production), RFID (a track and trace method), and spectroscopy (a chemical fingerprint of the product) are proven methods of being able to safeguard the supply chain process, though each has its drawbacks.
Check out the IndustryWeek article here.
Variability and Vulnerability in the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain September 24, 2010
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in supply chain.Tags: mistake-proofing, supply chain
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Supply trains have more than their fair share of problems, and those problems are especially inherent pharmaceutical supply chains. A lack of uniformity, for example, in the production of raw materials in different places with different regulatory standards, can have dire consequences (such as the 2008 Heparin incident which claimed 81lives.) The e-Pedigree (a traceable history of production), RFID (a track and trace method), and spectroscopy (a chemical fingerprint of the product) are proven methods of being able to safeguard the supply chain process, though each has its drawbacks.
Check out the IndustryWeek article here.
Toyota Recall and the Lean Movement March 23, 2010
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in automotive, Lean Thinking.Tags: automotive, Lean Thinking, mistake-proofing
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Toyota should have responded sooner, say some –a decade sooner. But according to Jeff Liker, posting at the Lean Edge blog, Toyota does indeed check parts, and if there are a larger than usual number of complaints or issues, Toyota will indeed investigate. The sticky-brake pedals and all-weather carpets are relatively new problems. Mr. Liker further cautions against “hasty generalizations”, and notes that companies who looked to Toyota as a model lean company should not be deterred. Toyota can use lean to fix itself.
Check out Mr. Liker’s article here.
Toyota Recall and the Lean Movement March 23, 2010
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in automotive, Lean Thinking.Tags: automotive, Lean Thinking, mistake-proofing
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Toyota should have responded sooner, say some –a decade sooner. But according to Jeff Liker, posting at the Lean Edge blog, Toyota does indeed check parts, and if there are a larger than usual number of complaints or issues, Toyota will indeed investigate. The sticky-brake pedals and all-weather carpets are relatively new problems. Mr. Liker further cautions against “hasty generalizations”, and notes that companies who looked to Toyota as a model lean company should not be deterred. Toyota can use lean to fix itself.
Check out Mr. Liker’s article here.
Obvious and Underutilized March 23, 2010
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in Lean Tools & Techniques.Tags: mistake-proofing, poke-yoke
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All too often, an overcomplicated solution is sought for a very simple singular problem. Kevin Meyer over at Evolving Excellence analyzes an article about poke-yoke published in the Harvard Business Review. He points out that millions can be spent on ERP software instead of on simple flow improvement, for example. The Review’s article notes that very simple procedures caused hospitals to improve dramatically –such as washing one’s hands before surgery, or marking the limb requiring surgery.
Check out Mr. Meyer’s analysis here.
Obvious and Underutilized March 23, 2010
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in Lean Tools & Techniques.Tags: mistake-proofing, poke-yoke
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All too often, an overcomplicated solution is sought for a very simple singular problem. Kevin Meyer over at Evolving Excellence analyzes an article about poke-yoke published in the Harvard Business Review. He points out that millions can be spent on ERP software instead of on simple flow improvement, for example. The Review’s article notes that very simple procedures caused hospitals to improve dramatically –such as washing one’s hands before surgery, or marking the limb requiring surgery.
Check out Mr. Meyer’s analysis here.
A Pop-Culture PDCA Cycle? February 3, 2010
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in Lean Thinking.Tags: Lean Thinking, mistake-proofing
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Mark Graban over at Lean Blog had a few interesting thoughts about the Jay Leno/Conan O’Brien late night television war that erupted recently. Mr. Graban described the NBC debacle using the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle. The plan was to move Leno to 10 P.M. and put Conan on at 11:35 P.M., perhaps to gain a wider audience and a younger demographic. Then NBC implemented the plan. The ratings (the Check portion) were horrible. NBC reacted (the Act portion) and moved Jay back to 11:35 and pushed Conan back to 12:35.
I had to comment on Mark’s blog, that if NBC were a truly lean organization, and had properly implemented PDCA, then an examination of why the scheduling rearrangement failed should have been conducted. How does NBC prevent recurrence of a future scheduling misstep like this?
Check out Mark’s post here.
A Pop-Culture PDCA Cycle? February 3, 2010
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in Lean Thinking.Tags: Lean Thinking, mistake-proofing
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Mark Graban over at Lean Blog had a few interesting thoughts about the Jay Leno/Conan O’Brien late night television war that erupted recently. Mr. Graban described the NBC debacle using the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle. The plan was to move Leno to 10 P.M. and put Conan on at 11:35 P.M., perhaps to gain a wider audience and a younger demographic. Then NBC implemented the plan. The ratings (the Check portion) were horrible. NBC reacted (the Act portion) and moved Jay back to 11:35 and pushed Conan back to 12:35.
I had to comment on Mark’s blog, that if NBC were a truly lean organization, and had properly implemented PDCA, then an examination of why the scheduling rearrangement failed should have been conducted. How does NBC prevent recurrence of a future scheduling misstep like this?
Check out Mark’s post here.
Error Proofing Handwashing March 10, 2009
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in healthcare, Lean Thinking.Tags: healthcare, Lean Thinking, mistake-proofing
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Hand washing and proper hand hygiene is a big concern at most hospitals. The basic Lean concept of Error Proofing is interesting to apply to this issue: How CAN we error proof proper hand hygiene? We can do spot checks, but we can’t watch people constantly, it seems. We can make it easy to do the right thing — eliminating systemic barriers that would make it hard to clean your hands. Hospitals can put gel dispensers everywhere and can make sure carts are available so staff members can keep their hands free to be able to clean up. Is there more that can be done?This post on the LeanBlog includes a video that shows a prototype device attached to a hand sanitizer dispenser. One step closer to mistake-proof. As the comments to the post indicate, there are some concerns. What are your ideas?
Read the post here.
Error Proofing Handwashing March 10, 2009
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in healthcare, Lean Thinking.Tags: healthcare, Lean Thinking, mistake-proofing
add a comment
Hand washing and proper hand hygiene is a big concern at most hospitals. The basic Lean concept of Error Proofing is interesting to apply to this issue: How CAN we error proof proper hand hygiene? We can do spot checks, but we can’t watch people constantly, it seems. We can make it easy to do the right thing — eliminating systemic barriers that would make it hard to clean your hands. Hospitals can put gel dispensers everywhere and can make sure carts are available so staff members can keep their hands free to be able to clean up. Is there more that can be done?This post on the LeanBlog includes a video that shows a prototype device attached to a hand sanitizer dispenser. One step closer to mistake-proof. As the comments to the post indicate, there are some concerns. What are your ideas?
Read the post here.
