Bill Pflanz said:Through the ASQ Discussion board, Coury Ferguson invited Akio to participate in this discussion on the Cove but he declined. He is aware of the Cove and has read threads from it in the past. Since I have been fortunate to have personal communications from him, I know that he is very busy helping others to understand quality including volunteering his time on many discussion boads, publications and other communications. There is a limit to what can be done by one person without making too much work and Akio has decided he did not want to start looking at another board.
My interpretation of Akio's thoughts on the various Lean buzz words is that they have become fad words that have been misattributed and misused by Lean proponents. Kaizen happens to be one Lean concept he is very outspoken on and he does not like. There are many lean methods that he does like even if he dislikes the associated Japanese term used for it. With decades of experience and knowledge, he learned the same methods through books written in the 1950's by Americans including the military and those teaching operational research. In his opinion, they are not new and have sometimes become corrupted in their use in Japan. There is something to be said for going back to the original sources and understanding the theory behind the methods. It is harder to do than just taking the latest course that might be taught by a hack but the effort has value. Although it is possible for the older theories and methods to be improved over time, it is also possible that all that has been added is just junk methods and terminology.
Peronally, I am glad that I got to know Akio. He may be the closest thing I have found to the masters like Juran, Deming and others from the quality past.
Bill Pflanz
Well said Bill.
I just read some examples he provided on the ASQ Board regarding Kaizen, and I think everyone that might be interested in seeing Akio's writings on the Board should do so. Just in case some of the Covers don't have the link, here it is:
https://www.asq.org/discussionBoards/index.jspa
This URL is for the Public Discussion Board. There is a more in depth Discussion Board available to ASQ Members only. Since I am an inactive member, I am unable to review those discussions.
You will be surprised how much information is also there besides here in the Cove.
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