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BIO — Scott Sedam, president of TrueNorth Development (www.truen.com), spends most of his time working in the trenches with builders, suppliers and trade contractors. His Lean Builder blog appears weekly at HousingZone.com. He welcomes your feedback at scott@truen.com.
Lean Builder Blog: IBS and The Learning Organizations
Tue, 2012-02-21 22:29
Peter Senge wrote one of the best business books of the 1990’s, The Learning Organization. It is one of those on my list to pull off the shelf and read again, if I ever catch up with the stack of unread volumes on my credenza now. I even attended...
The Lean Building Blog: Buying by the square foot — an anti-Lean practice
Thu, 2012-02-02 22:35
There is nothing in homebuilding that makes less sense than purchasing by the square foot and it is a big obstacle in Lean implementation. Other than the fact that it makes things easy I suppose, there is very little to be said for it. It damn...
The Lean Builder: Fixing Architecture I
Tue, 2012-01-24 20:05
In my blog two weeks ago, I launched into a tirade about how so many residential architects are not doing their job. Each week, I link this blog back to the LeanBuilding Group on www....
The Lean Builder: Our future – Fairmont or Fusion
Tue, 2012-01-17 20:41
With the February edition of Professional Builder, I begin a series on the evolution of quality management. Here is a more detailed version of an excerpt from that article to come. Be sure to read that.
Can a company really go from worst...
The Lean Builder: Architects — my frustration overfloweth
Tue, 2012-01-10 17:25
In the past year, during our LeanPlan Workout process, we had the dubious honor of “working on” plans from 3 of the biggest name, most expensive architectural firms in the country (among others.)
Our version of “working on” these plans is...
The Lean Builder: Lucky man - Making the most out of the housing recession
Tue, 2012-01-03 22:03
Michael J. Fox and I have something in common (besides the obvious – talent, good looks, irreverence, witty repartee, etc.) We both have an incurable “condition.” Fox has Parkinson’s disease, a well-known affliction that continues to ravage...
The Lean Builder Blog: Marshall Field had it right
Wed, 2011-12-21 17:40
Last weekend was the annual Christmas sojourn to my wife’s relatives in Chicago. On the obligatory trip downtown to Marshall Field’s to see the Christmas decorations, visions of credit card slips danced in my head as my wife and daughter pursued...
The Lean Builder Blog: PO vs. VPO – Another ‘voice of the process’
Tue, 2011-12-13 14:55
One of the requirements in Lean Operations is harnessing the “Voice of the Process.” Your processes can teach you so much and hence save you a lot of cash … IF you know how to get them to talk to you. How do you do that? Metrics, of course, but...
The Lean Builder Blog: Don’t let this passion go to waste
Tue, 2011-12-06 17:14
Yesterday after presenting an orientation for our LeanPlan Workout process to a group of suppliers & trades in Texas, a contractor named Mike walked up to me and two of the senior managers from the builder. Strong-looking guy, with very alert...
The Lean Builder Blog: Turnkey or not?
Wed, 2011-11-30 13:19
I am frequently asked, what is the right way to buy labor and materials? Should you use turnkey suppliers and trades or should you purchase and negotiate labor and material separately. Let me be 100% clear about this. I have the answer. I am now...
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