Wow, that was Fast!

About 5:30pm yesterday afternoon, I made a quick check of Hal Macomber's blog and noted the following paragraph.

In chapter seven, "Muda (waste), Service, and Flow", the authors paraphrase Jim Womack's and Dan Jones' book Lean Thinking. These are some of the best 19 pages on lean thinking that you will find. If you don't buy the book, at least read the chapter over a cup of latte at Barnes and Noble.

I went to the "best 19 pages," scanned it and was impressed, so I printed it off to read later that evening. A few minutes later, at 5:45pm, my colleage Ken stopped by with a vendor who had his flight delayed by the rotten weather we've had this week in the midwest. We got talking about how he was trying to help his large lumber mill employer understand the benefits of targeting customer value rather than simply getting the most boards out of logs. "You know what, I've got an article you might enjoy on the flight home tomorrow," and I handed him the 19 pages, literally still warm from the printer.

My point? One, it works well to network, learn and share. Two, many people, like my new lumber-selling acquaintence, see that the only way to make money in this price-lowering economy is to eliminate waste, with waste being defined by the customer! Thus, he was anxious to learn and I had a tool to help him. Thanks to Hal and his alert reader Claude, who put the link together.

Yes, I got home late, again, but it was a very fruitful discussion. Check out the 19 pages for yourself. Then, see if you can pass it on to someone else in the next two days.

I hope this is helpful.

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