Remodeler winners of the National Housing Quality Award over the years cite a range of best practices that helped them to achieve this level of excellence. This includes the following as just a few.
Many people today still see quality as being about 'incremental improvement' rather than innovation and fast dynamic change and particularly those focusing on six sigma tend to see it as being about 'defect reduction/elimination' only. It is good to go back to the original source and for quality that means going back to Deming. Consider these points for how you run your business.
Deming considered that quality starts in one place, top management and it cannot be delegated.
He...
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 engaging 20-25 suppliers and trades in a highly-structured review of field reality and cost/value analysis, led by our architect from TK Design, Todd Hallett, along with one of our experienced field consultants and a team from the Builder....
One of the benefits of working with builders and customers all over the country is that I get a real grasp of what is happening with design trends. For the longest time it seemed everyone wanted a second floor Laundry Room. The logic was that all if all of the bedrooms (including the Owner's) are upstairs then that is where the Laundry should be. Here are some of the supporting points to that logic:
This short video wonderfully highlights key quality issues that impact the Cost of Quality and avoid risk. It is ideal for introducing quality, risk management or for opening a discussion, presentation or training on quality.
http://asq.org/audit/106287/web.html?shl=106287&WT.dcsvid=MjI0MzEyNzg1NQS2&WT.mc_id=EM117917
This video clip was...
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 his body despite an astounding amount of medical research dedicated to discovering a cure. My condition is a rare one called Alport’s Syndrome, a genetic fluke that resulted in total kidney failure nearly 12 years ago. The bonus round included...
Happy New Year! IBS 2012 is going to be great. Unlike recent years past there is a distinct feeling of optimism going into this event. A lot of builders are looking at this year as an opportunity for growth. If you haven't already considered using Lean as a platform for this growth - do. It will allow you to maximize profits and optimize the marketability of your homes.
Professional Builder is hosting House Review Live with six different leading...
Perhaps you heard the story in December about the truck driver that won a Lamborghini Murcielago LP-640 worth over $200,000. A few hours after getting the car he crashed it!
It is a nice analogy about process improvement. Often...
Netflix loses 60% of its market and RIM (Blackberry) also loses over 50% of its market, not a great year for what had been some of the strongest companies. They certainly never planned for such an impact at the start of 2011. What happened, well the customer spoke!
Both losses are included amongst the ‘worst CEOs of 2011’ listings. This presents some great insights to critical business failures this year. There are excellent lessons to be learnt from these failures. For more...
I love the easy ones! Scott Sedam and I were implementing a Lean Plan Workout recently and a very simple cost saving opportunity presented itself. Eliminate the tire stop in the garage. A tire stop is an area of raised curb in the garage designed to remind drivers to stop once they are in their garage. The argument is that if they really need this reminder maybe they should not be behind the wheel in the first place.
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