What My E-mail Inbox Taught Me About Lean

by Carly Barry
 

My husband said to me the other day, “You talk about being Lean all the time, but your e-mail inbox is definitely not Lean!”
I have to admit, I tend to keep things around just in case I might need them down the road. I keep coupons I might use for months beyond expiration, every piece of high school and college memorabilia I’ve come to acquire, and of course almost every e-mail sent to me.
According to Lean methodology, too much inventory has the potential to hide problems. For example, a company with too much inventory might neglect to see that a machine on the process line is malfunctioning or that there is too much machine downtime in one area of the process.
Keeping my inbox inventory high might cause me to miss seeing and acting on an...
Read More » »