KaiNexus: Continuous Improvement, Leadership, and More

Visit the KaiNexus YouTube Channel In this episode, we hear three clips with Tory Schrock, Director of Organizational Excellence at Pella Regional Health Center. Learn more about KaiNexus

The blog post Ecologists and other environmentally aware people often talk about the goal of "Zero Waste." But, of course, that's an outstanding goal for business as well.Reducing waste is at the heart of the Lean business methodology. The purpose of Lean is to spend more of your time creating value for customers by reducing or eliminating everything that does not produce value (AKA the waste). Value can take the form of finished goods, services, or information. To make it easier to identify waste in business processes, Lean practitioners target eight specific types of waste.Although the Lean approach originated in manufacturing, it is used in almost every sector. Strikingly the eight wastes are common across industries, including software development, construction, healthcare, and education. Although it is not as apparent as it may be on a factory floor, the set of tasks and activities performed in any sector creates a production process that ultimately provides value to a customer.While some of the wastes are self-explanatory, others are more difficult to recognize. This post aims to help by giving a few examples of each type of waste in various businesses. Hopefully, they will help you think about how waste may be occurring in your operations and how to begin designing processes that minimize it. Of course, the people who are most likely to find and correct waste are the process operators, so it is a good idea to share these examples with them and provide a way for each employee to submit opportunities for improvement.

The blog post Companies dedicated to the practice of continuous improvement invest a lot of time and resources into training their employees and creating a culture centered around positive change. One way to make this easier and to smooth the path to improvement is to hire people who already have the right mindset. Bringing up continuous improvement during the initial interview and throughout the hiring process lets the applicant know how important it is to your organization, and helps you weed out people who will be resistant to feedback and change. If you ask the right questions, you can get a pretty good idea of whether the candidate is likely to be a good fit in your improvement culture and someone that the rest of the team will gladly welcome. Here are some ideas of what to ask...

Read the blog post Written by Maggie Millard, read by Mark Graban Businesses use a host of methodologies to bring structure to the process of identifying and acting upon opportunities for improvement. You may be familiar with Six Sigma, Kaizen, Lean, Toyota Production System, and others. Although these methodologies differ, the foundation of each of them is the continuous improvement model. The continuous improvement model reflects the idea that organizations should constantly implement incremental improvements to services, products, and processes. The approach applies to every industry and size of business. Several central principles guide the continuous improvement model. 

View video, slides, and more Operations science describes the fundamental relationships that drive operations performance. However, the concepts are not widely understood or applied properly. Join us for this webinar with Ed Pound, Managing Director of the Operations Science Institute to: Learn a fundamental, expensive problem that plagues nearly all organizations yet is widely unknown Participate in an exercise to see if this problem affects your organization Learn some basic concepts of operations science and how the field can be used to accelerate your organization’s success right now, with your existing people and technology. No capex needed. Ed Pound is the Managing Director of the Operations Science Institute, lead author of the book "Factory Physics for Managers," and co-author of the upcoming book "Applied Operations Science." Ed has over 35 years of experience managing, coaching, and training in operations across many different industries and countries and in businesses large and small.

From this video, Jeff Roussel (chief revenue officer) and Greg Jacobson (co-founder and CEO) discuss the culture at KaiNexus. Learn more about jobs at KaiNexus In this enlightening episode of the KaiNexus Continuous Improvement Podcast, join Jeff Roussel and Greg Jacobson for a deep dive into the unique corporate ethos of Kinexis. Discover how this dynamic company has etched out its colossal success through the shared formulation and embodiment of collective core values. Rather than a top-down approach, KaiNexus methodically identified fundamental behaviors through employee interactions that came to define their organization. Their culture vividly narrates a story of shared beliefs where every policy adopted and decision made is a tribute to their core values. Let’s explore how they've shaped their environment, where principles aren't simply stated words, but an integral part of the everyday actions. Take a journey revealing how the cornerstone of teamwork contributes significantly to KaiNexus's triumphs. Understanding that individual efforts culminate in extraordinary feats when synchronized into a collective endeavor is their core mantra. Discover how Kinexis has cultivated a workplace where collaboration and collective success are at the heart of every initiative. A discussion featuring their outlook on kindness as a strength, focusing on customer needs, and the embedding of trust will help listeners understand how the company's values contribute to a nurturing and respectful business ethos, while also delivering superior service to its clientele.

Learn more and register here February 6 from 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm ET Presented by Ed Pound, joined by Mark Graban from KaiNexus for a preview discussion in this episode. Operations science describes the fundamental relationships that drive operations performance. However, the concepts are not widely understood or applied properly. Join us for this webinar with Ed Pound, Managing Director of the Operations Science Institute to: Learn a fundamental, expensive problem that plagues nearly all organizations yet is widely unknown Participate in an exercise to see if this problem affects your organization Learn some basic concepts of operations science and how the field can be used to accelerate your organization’s success right now, with your existing people and technology. No capex needed Ed Pound is the Managing Director of the Operations Science Institute, lead author of the book "Factory Physics for Managers," and co-author of the upcoming book "Applied Operations Science." Ed has over 35 years of experience managing, coaching, and training in operations across many different industries and countries and in businesses large and small.

YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9A0Zlf_048&ab_channel=KaiNexus As presented by John Grout on 1/17/24. Hosted by Mark Graban of KaiNexus. This webinar is a 60-minute primer into mistake-proofing (a.k.a. poka-yoke). Information about the basics of mistake-proofing, why people make mistakes, and how to start the process of reducing mistakes will be presented in a fast-moving and entertaining format.Objectives: Build awareness of mistake-proofing Introduce a concise presentation format: “pecha kucha," with 20 slides x 0:20 seconds each = 6:40 minutes (we’ll do two of these with discussion in between). What is mistake-proofing? Include lots of examples Why do people err? How can design eliminate errors? Next steps in implementation John Grout is the David C. Garrett Jr. Professor, former dean, and award-winning teacher in the Campbell School of Business at Berry College. Dr. Grout has researched lean supply chain management and mistake-proofing (a.k.a. Poka-Yoke) extensively and published numerous articles on the topic. John was awarded the Shingo Prize for his paper, “The Human Side of Mistake-Proofing” with Douglas Stewart. John has also consulted with a large variety of firms to mistake-proof their processes.

One of the most critical concepts in Lean organizations is the idea that it is essential to eliminate waste. Why is it so central to the practice of Lean? The principles of Lean say that the ultimate goal is to provide perfect customer value. Anything that provides value to the customer is preserved. Everything else is considered waste. Some waste is inevitable due to physical constraints, regulations, or safety considerations. Still, most organizations find that they are engaged in many unnecessary activities and use more resources than is strictly required.If you are striving to become a Lean organization, waste elimination is probably near the top of your list. Lean practitioners have identified particular types of waste, known collectively as the 8 Wastes of Lean. Certain types of waste are easy to spot and fix, while others are more difficult to detect.  Read the blog post, get an infographic and free ebook

Register for the webinar here In this video, host Mark Graban from KaiNexus talks with John Grout about his upcoming webinar to be held on January 17th. This webinar is a 60-minute primer into mistake-proofing (a.k.a. poka-yoke). Information about the basics of mistake-proofing, why people make mistakes, and how to start the process of reducing mistakes will be presented in a fast-moving and entertaining format. Objectives: Build awareness of mistake-proofing Introduce a concise presentation format: “pecha kucha," with 20 slides x 0:20 seconds each = 6:40 minutes (we’ll do two of these with discussion in between). What is mistake-proofing? Include lots of examples Why do people err? How can design eliminate errors? Next steps in implementation About the Presenter: John Grout John Grout is the David C. Garrett Jr. Professor, former dean, and award-winning teacher in the Campbell School of Business at Berry College. Dr. Grout has researched lean supply chain management and mistake-proofing (a.k.a. Poka-Yoke) extensively and published numerous articles on the topic. John was awarded the Shingo Prize for his paper, “The Human Side of Mistake-Proofing” with Douglas Stewart. John has also consulted with a large variety of firms to mistake-proof their processes.