You have been hearing in the news that companies are getting into trouble for hiring illegal immigrants, but don’t think that will happen to you. Are you sure?

...many firms I visit are stuck in first gear on their initial lean efforts. They are trying to create flow but can’t get traction. There are many reasons for this lack of progress. Insufficient leadership, resources, or commitment are a few of the most common. But an overlooked and recurring pitfall that I’m seeing more often is a lack of “basic stability” in manufacturing operations. Quite simply, processes can’t flow because key pieces of equipment are broken down.

If seemingly overnight your company was losing 40% of its sales and revenue base, what steps would you take to regain your footing in the marketplace?

Baby boomers are reaching retirement age, but this doesn’t mean they are leaving their jobs. That includes chief executives, who increasingly are sticking around, thereby threatening to leave the next generation of leadership in limbo.

The popularity of “study missions” to Japan has risen steadily since the late 1980s, when America first began “importing” Lean practices from Toyota. Companies began to learn that even though they have applied all the tools of TPS, they were still hemorrhaging money through the cracks in their system, and they decided to go to the source to seek answers. One such company providing tours is Enna, which will lead a group to Japan October 18-25, 2008.