The Lean Machine
The Lean Machine - Better Continuous Improvement  
Execellence through IntegrationAugust 2010
In This Issue
TLM Enterprise
Who is Aussie?
Lean ISO 9001
Open Office Templates
The Developer's Corner
The Developer's Corner
TLM Enterprise
TLM Enterprise
TLM Enterprise is up and running on a new MySQL database.  This configuration also can support remote access from the web.
 
With a centralized database, TLM Enterprise eliminates the need to synchronize when users log in, which can save considerable time if your employee count is getting close to or above 30 or so users.
 
Also, with a storage capacity of 8 Terabytes, it can support much larger systems.
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Greetings!

Can software play a fundamental role in transforming how you manage your employees?  In this issue we explore that question using one of our own vendors.   We also look at the new term "Lean ISO 9001," and how software can make a company's quality system move fast enough to be used as a true management system.  This issue also starts our Open Office QMS template giveaway.
 
Who is Aussie?
AussieAussie contacted us from the Philippines to provide appointment setting services for The Lean Machine, but she didn't know the first thing about Quality or ISO 9001/13485.  However, she was very professional, with an engaging and energetic personality, so we decided to use The Lean Machine to train her and manage the outreach she would be doing. 
 
First we had to get her into our database, so we converted our database to our new Enterprise version so she could log in from the Philippines.  Then we used the Training Module to create a series of classes and quizzes to train her on some basic principles of working within a quality management system, and the various modules of The Lean Machine.
 
I suppose we could have just let her make calls with only a phone script and a handful of sound bytes to work from, but how efficient is that?  She can't really answer any questions or otherwise represent our products and services with any real credibility or even basic knowledge.
 
Besides, the goal of The Lean Machine is to help the Quality Manager bring the principles of an ISO based quality system into the daily work life of everyone in the company, not just the "Quality Department."  So we saw this as a chance to demonstrate this capability by converting someone from "I've never heard of ISO 9001" to being a ISO based team member who understands their role in, and the value of, all the components of ISO 9001 that might touch their daily work life.
 
This would then give the Quality Manager someone to talk to who can answer some basic questions about the software, and who has been through the process he or she would be asking other's in their company to go through.  We aren't trying to claim she is totally unbiased, after all, she is working for us, but we wanted to make the most of her time, and yours, and this seemed like a good way to put someone in front of our prospects who was more interesting than someone reading from a phone script.
 
We can't promise she will call you, it's a big database and she's only one person, but if you are curious about her experience as a new TLM user, and how fast she is learning how The Lean Machine can act as a daily tool for continuous improvement,  Contact Us and we will make sure she gives you a call in the near future.
Lean ISO 9001
 Lean ISO 9001After reading Mike Micklewright's new book, "Lean ISO 9001," we were thrilled that the basic premise of The Lean Machine, which was to streamline quality system activities so that they could actually be useful, was essentially what Mike was advocating in his book.  He also had some great ideas that we have already incorporated into the latest update for The Lean Machine. 
 
For example, one of the fields on a corrective action form that Mike suggests is a necessity is a place to indicate the "Requirement Actually or Potentially Not Being met."  Mike thinks it is important that the requirement be understood, as the requirement may potentially be part of the problem.  The Lean Machine now has the default value for one of the custom fields on the CAPA form set to "Requirement Actually or Potentially Not Being met." 
 
While we usually rely on our customers and Affiliates for good development ideas, we'll take them wherever we can find them.
 
He's also a big fan of good root cause analysis and the "5 Why" processes of determining the root cause of a problem.  So we added a 5 Why question set to the mechanism that will automatically add the selected investigation technique to the comment section of the CAPA screen where investigators record their findings.
 
But can software speed up the quality management system?
 
We are pretty sure our customers thinks so, as one of them managed to achieve ISO 13485 registration 8 weeks after purchasing The Lean Machine.  Now that's fast!
 
You can see for yourself with an on-line tutorial or full featured trail version at www.TheLeanMachine.com
Open Office Templates
Open OfficeHave you tried the latest version of Open Office?  Our new server based Enterprise solution requires software licenses for the applications you use in TLM, like MS Word, for the server.   In order to minimize this cost and give our users some options,  we looked into the capabilities of Open Office, which is freeware, and we were really impressed.  So much so that we are going to create a version of our template documents using their word processing and flowcharting applications.
 
While we are at it, since "Lean ISO" is the name of the game, we are going to streamline our template documents and make sure they are current with the software, and the current version of ISO 9001.
 
In fact, in appreciation for taking the time to read our newsletter, we want to give these away and we will include a link to each document as we finish them in future newsletters.  Collecting them all is at least a $500 value.
 
Click here  to download our new quality manual that we reduced from a 56 page regurgitation of the ISO requirements, to a two page version we got out of Mike's new book mentioned above. Now that's Lean.
 
Download the latest version of Open Office first, so that you will be able to view the document.
The Developer's Corner
The Developer
David
The latest version of both TLM Mobile and Enterprise has been posted.  Some highlights of the changes include:
 
  • More efficient search screens.  Search screens can now be configured based on the number of records to open more efficiently.
  • The Document Release Screen has been reorganized to make the review of document related information more intuitive and efficient.
  • The Tools screen now allows you to choose whether to automatically refresh the dashboard to speed up performance in larger systems.
  • The Work Order screen has a new feature to copy and automatically number work orders to speed up the data entry for serial numbered items.
  • The CAPA module has been reorganized and now includes multiple investigation technique options, as well as links to documents related to the corrective or preventive action.
  • Remote Access is now available.  Both systems can now be configures to work off of a server, with, or without, remote access.  You can either host on you own server, or arrange for hosting off-site.
Next Month - Closing the Training Gap 
Did they all read the work instruction?
Assembly Line
Does everyone making your product received the training they need?
 
Wouldn't it be handy to have a place where you could cross reference all the documents associated with a particular product along with the list of operators for a particular shift, or router, and make sure there aren't any training gaps before making the product, (or making mistakes while making the product)?
 
This idea was provided by one of our medical device companies and the needed features will be released in next month's update of The Lean Machine.
 
Are you struggling with an information based issue that could be effecting your company's ability to execute without errors? 
 
Feel free to contact us for a free consultation about the issue and whether The Lean Machine might be able to address your needs as well.
We appreciate and respect your time, so we hope this newsletter was of value to you.  If we found you in error, please use the link below to remove your e-mail address from our database.
 
Sincerely,
 

David Smithstein, CEO
Lean & Mean Business Systems, Inc.