The consequences of improving every day and not improving every day are part of American and Japanese manufacturing history, which is like the fable "The Tortoise and the Hare." America was like the Hare, much faster than the Tortoise (Japan), but we just lay down at the side of the road and slept, while Japan continuously improved every single day. Even when Japan was devastated by World War II -- over 100 cities were burnt to the ground -- they were able to rise above all limitations and slowly, eventually
Toyota established the Toyota Production System (TPS), or more recently called just-in-time in America's version of TPS -- lean. Lean looks at eliminating non-value adding wastes. Just take out a stopwatch and look at one product being made and measure the time from beginning to end, from the first process to the finished product. You will find that over 95% of the time does not add value. Value is added by converting raw material to finished goods; thus milling, grinding, drilling, painting, polishing, bending, cutting, and sanding can be called value-adding steps. But waiting, moving, and transporting things are called wastes.
The decision should be made by the person with the most knowledge, the person who does the job every day. This is what Conscious Learning is really all about. If we are always learning, then we have more knowledge and power to please our customers. We can learn, of course, from our experiences, but we can also learn consciously by looking at our organization as an ongoing college. Like a college, there are courses to take, and like college, there is a curriculum to follow.
When Asa Griggs Candler founded The Coca-Cola Company in the late 1800s, there was no way he knew his company would one day be valued at upwards of $180 billion. That’s a lot of money for a business that sells soft drinks. Coca-Cola has consistently strived to diversify its product portfolio and expand into new markets. By and large, Coke has succeeded in these efforts.
When Asa Griggs Candler founded The Coca-Cola Company in the late 1800s, there was no way he knew his company would one day be valued at upwards of $180 billion. That’s a lot of money for a business that sells soft drinks. Coca-Cola has consistently strived to diversify its product portfolio and expand into new markets. By and large, Coke has succeeded in these efforts.