This issue from PRINTING United Alliance features articles on the basic principles of Lean manufacturing, why savvy leaders coach others to think creatively and solve problems, and models for operational excellence. The practice of continuous improvement offers printing and graphic communications companies

This issue from PRINTING United Alliance features articles on how to perform better root cause analysis and how to install more effective countermeasures. The practice of continuous improvement offers printing and graphic communications companies a way to create a sustainable competitive advantage.

This issue from PRINTING United Alliance features articles on why the ability to capture employee ideas is crucial to company success, how to train yourself to see waste, and the necessary ingredients for an improvement culture. CI Ready!, a virtual event this

This issue from PRINTING United Alliance features articles on problem solving, assessing improvement culture and practices, and how one company dramatically reduced spoilage. The practice of continuous improvement offers printing and graphic communications companies a way to create a sustainable competitive advantage.

Poka-Yoke: Mistake Proofing Your Processes By John Compton Everything we do in our work is accomplished through a process. All processes have suppliers, inputs, activities, outputs, and customers. This basic building block of work is illustrated in the figure below. Our processes

The Real Purpose of 5S By John Compton It’s safe to say that the most commonly used Lean/CI tool is 5S. I have yet to visit a printing company involved in Lean and continuous improvement that has not made use of the

The ABCs of Work By John Compton It was at an RIT symposium in the 1990s that I first heard Douglas Engelbart speak about the three types of work activities that occur in a business. Engelbart, who invented the computer mouse, was

A Continuous Improvement Q&A with Roy Waterhouse of Hopkins Printing By John Compton Toward the end of 2019, I had the opportunity to interview Roy Waterhouse, president of Hopkins Printing. Under Roy’s leadership, this commercial printer has been devoted to achieving higher

The Customer Buys Your Value Stream By John Compton The way we think drives what we do. This is certainly true when it comes to striving for improvement in our businesses. Common thinking among printing companies is that they are comprised of

Kaizen – Everybody, Every Day, A Little Bit Better By John Compton I first encountered the concept of kaizen in the early 1980s through the teaching of Masaaki Imai and later through his book Kaizen: The key to Japan’s Competitive Success. Imai