Quick and Easy Kaizen #13 - Free software for home

I like free. Especially when it is good and free. On the other hand, bad and free...that's called trash. Never accept trash even if they pay you to take it. That's called stupid.

On my way to an out of town meeting a few days ago, I picked up a copy of Consumer Reports and the issue I reviewed was evaluating software such as anti-virus, spam, pop-up blockers and so on. Interestingly enough, three free products were recommended by CR for anti-virus, spam, and pop-up blocking:

Avira anti-virus
Microsoft Windows Defender
Spam fighter Standard

The computer that the family uses was in dire need of protection since the Mcafee products expired and reminded us tirelessly that we need to buy an upgrade. All these products listed above were free so I downloaded them today and installed them on the family PC. These seem to run well, were a breeze to setup, and I saved $40-$100 over retail packaged software with similar features. Don't pay for overblown app suites when you get 80-90% of the value for free. Don't take my word for it, check out Consumer Reports!

Benefits:

• Free software
• Improved protection from virus, malware, intrusions, and pop-ups

What have you improved today?

Dan Lafever, Kaizeneer

Improving my IT Service Desk...

OK...I'm going to depart from home and family improvement for a post...or two...or three.

I work as a manager at an IT Service Desk and we use Lean and Kaizen techniques all the time in our business. Here's a kaizen idea that one of my employees turned in:

An employee that transferred in from the night service desk noticed that she had some of her old functional access allowed her to solve certain problems that day time staff couldn't. During the day, service desk analysts had to escalate these types of problems to other teams. She submitted this idea as a Quick and Easy Kaizen. Upon investigation, no one knew why the daytime staff didn't have that access and so it was granted. Now, everyone of my staff can resolve these types of calls without escalation.

Benefits:

• Better caller resolution
• Faster resolution with no waiting
• Elminated the waste of uneeded escalation

What have you improved today?

Dan Lafever, Kaizeneer

Camp Kaizen

For the last several years, I have been directing a week long church camp for fathers and sons called, "Dads Camp". Each year, I use continuous improvement techniques to make the outing easier, cost less, and reduce preparation time. Here's a story about improving the financial aspects of our event.

In 2008, a number of fathers spent their own money for camp expenses and once camp was completed, it took weeks to straighten out the mess and get everyone paid. Receipts were unclear, the process was not understood, and miscommunication occurred. So, using lean improvement methods, we made the camp expense process much easier by changing the following:

1. All camp expenses had to be pre-approved before the actual event or they would not be reimbursed.
2. Several required camp items were paid with the church credit card in advance eliminating the need to front all the expense money.
3. Expense forms were brought to the camp so that they could be completed and sent back to the church office immediately for faster turnaround.
4. Thank you gifts were purchased in advance of the outing for distribution at camp instead of weeks later.

These kaizens made the wrap-up process so much easier and I am pleased to report that our camp budget was in the black. Using kaizen techniques, we didn't need a bailout. Even a few small changes can make a difference and there will be even more improvements next year.

What have you improved today?

Dan Lafever, Kaizeneer

Quick and Easy Kaizen #12 - Text your kids on home changes

Taking a page from my ITIL training, I send out "Home Change Alerts" when changes are made at our house that would affect my kids away to college. For example, I recently moved the dog cage into a vacant bedroom that my college students share when home from school. Our puppy now goes to sleep in his kennel in their room and they have been informed of this change. Home change alerts are simple, easy, and to the point.

Benefits:

• Improved communications among family members
• Children away feel more involved with the family
• Changes can be sent at one time to a group instead of being repeated over and over

What have you improved today?

Dan Lafever, Kaizeneer

A winning pinewood derby car through continous improvement: Part 3

Wheels: Take the burrs off the tire surface from the stamping process...we used a 1500 grit sandpaper to smooth the wheels as much as possible. Be very careful or you can create damage to the wheels. We tested the smoothness with the 'close eye-touch finger-spin wheel' test to feel any bumps or leftover irregularities on the surface as we sanded it to measure our progress. Also, we had an additional regulation pinewood derby kit and we picked out the best looking and straightest wheels. Not all pinewood parts are created equal.

Next, we waxed the wheel surfaces with car wax several times for a smooth uniform surfaces. I guess my son did it at least 10 times to build up a nice coat of smooth wax. It was smooth and good looking to boot. We used Johnson Car wax that I had for my car. We even tried waxing the inside the wheel where the axle goes...apparently, it didn't hurt. Lastly, test your wheels and axle out and true them up as best you can. I used a small level and checked to see if everything was trued up and straight with the wheels on. Also, leave a space the width of the pinewood cardboard stock thickness between the wheel and the car body. Friction against the body is bad and will slow performance.

Axles: There is a ton of information about the axle prep on the net-read it and follow it. It's better explained with pictures so do your homework. Here's my two cents-have your son polish, polish, and polish some more til he is sick of it. Then it will be ready. Here's my order of abrasives (that I had around my workshop) for axle polishing :

40 grit sandpaper
60 grit sandpaper
100 grit sandpaper
140 grit sandpaper
500 grit sandpaper
1500 grit sandpaper
00 steel wool
000 steel wool
0000 steel wool

By the time you are done, those axles should be shiny and bright. Be sure to do the same on the underside of the nail head too-it has burrs there that will slow down your car. We used a high speed Dremel like tool for the polishing which improved the process over the 3/8" variable speed drill I used in previous years.

For the axle lubricant, it's graphite all the way. I tried the white teflon stuff for several years and graphite made his car go fast. Another tip: Buy your graphite a month in advance-the day of the derby, the store I went to get it at was sold out...fortunately, a kind soul at the derby let me have some. I believe that the greatest improvement for me was to apply the graphite just before the car was weight certified and impounded until race time. We waited until the last possible moment before "graphiting up" the wheels and attaching the axles in a just in time fashion to improve lubricant retention. Several of the other cars had been finished a few days before and it was very difficult to add more lubricant because the axles were glued on or the car was impounded and moved and jostled around in the competition setup. In our "flow", we planned to have the car completely assembled and ready just minutes before the tournament started and it seems that helped as well. One piece flow is a lean concept...so google it.

Paint - Our cars was painted and sat in front of a fan for 3.5 days before the race. The local derby master had told past participants that vehicle paint should be dry at least 24-48 hours before the race to reduce friction. Fresh paint reduces speed-remember that one! There are some really fancy paint jobs and cool looking cars...but if not planned for, it can hurt the speed at racing time.


The results? My son entered his call in a field of 32 competitors and he finished first! Even racing against the adults, there was only one adult car that beat his by a whisker. My older son's best showing was 7th and he was on hand to watch his younger sibling win it all. As for me, we tried several kaizens that seems to work but the greatest joy was watching my boy beam with pride knowing that he had contributed a large part to the win. Victory is sweet.

What have you improved today?

Kaizeneer

A winning pinewood derby car through continous improvement: Part 2

Ok, here is the brain dump of what my son and I did to get a winning pinewood derby car:

First steps:

1. Get the car kit a month of two before the derby. Start working on the car early to give your son and yourself time to learn and overcome production obstacles. Beginning the work on the car a few days before the race will cause stress and frustration and lead to a poor outcome.
2. Create a work area for the car kit with all the tools so you and your son can work on the car and have everything in one place.
3. Have your son organize the tools and layout of the work area-he will take more ownership in the car and the process.
4. If you can, buy a second kit and pick the best wheels and nail axles out of the two kits.
5. Some choose to buy the books about how to make a winning car. My advice is to check out the library and see what it has on the pinewood derby. Also, networking with other dads will give you 90% of the knowledge you need for a great car.

Car Design

1. Have your son draw designs for the car on paper first 1 to 2 months before the competition. This will engage his mind and create excitement about the process of creating the car.
2. Look at pictures on the Internet to get ideas of designs. Really cool stuff out there.
3. Make it as close as possible to your son's design-this will create more ownership from the boy.

Tools I recommend for this project to speed the production process:

1. Hammer
2. Screwdrivers
3. Variable speed drill
4. High speed drill tool(Dremel)
5. Wood chisels
6. Pliers
7. Jigsaw or ban saw
8. Belt sander

Car body

1. I believe the more aerodynamic the better. He chose a smooth curved shape this year and got good results. However, I do not believe that the greatest speed return will be in this area so don't go crazy with it.
2. Cut the car body with a ban saw or jigsaw.
3. Teach your son workshop safety tips as you go.
4. Sand the body down with a power sander or belt sander.
5. Make it an inter generation project and include grandpa if possible!
6. Sand the body nice and smooth to prepare for painting.
7. Start with a coarse grit and then use finer and finer grit sandpaper for final preparation.
8. Pencil on the bottom of the car "F" for front and "R" for rear - this applies to some designs that are hard to tell front from rear.
9. Do a "axle" test and see if the axles are level by placing the nails in the body axle slots and checking them with a level.

We would travel to my dad's workshop and do all this work. I imagine that we spent about 1-2 hours out in the shop teaching, cutting, sanding, truing, and cleaning up the shop. My goal was that both my sons remember working with Grandpa and Dad on their cars.

Next post will cover things to do for the wheels and axles.

What have you improved today?

Dan Lafever, Kaizeneer

A winning pinewood derby car through continous improvement: Part 1

On Friday night, my youngest son had his last ever pinewood derby race for cub scouts. Both of my boys raced in the local pack race and enjoyed this activity. My oldest sons highest placing was 7th out of 28 cars and my youngest best finish ever was 5th in 2008. This year, we determined to use the kaizen approach and pull out all the stops since this was the final race that we would participate in. I will tell you that this was the best race we ever had in our family! Before I reveal our secrets and how we finished, here is what we decided to do in the final derby of our family:

1) My son had to do over 50% of the work on his car- In my opinion, Dad doing all the work defeats the purpose and spirit of the pinewood derby. Some of the cars that race are obviously built by an adult...my goal was that by doing over half the work he would take interest and ownership in the car.

2) Inter generational project - My dad, myself, and my son all took time to work on the car. My father is a fabulous woodworker with a primo workshop and he helped his grandson cut and sand the body of the car. Our goal is that he remember working with his grandpa and his dad and how much fun it is to do projects with his family.

3) Check listing all the things I learned previously - in all the past races, I learned a few tips here and there. This year, I went back to all the techniques I had heard over the years and followed them in the building of the car.

4) Add my own improvement - this year I added some of my own kaizens of which most I believe helped the cars performance in the race. One didn't work at all...not all kaizens work!

5) Focusing on the process instead of the outcome - the time that I any son spent was building and working on the car to do all the things we knew to make it go fast. We focused on the fundamentals and process of reducing friction in every place possible instead of thinking about winning the competition. If you work on the fundamentals, the results will take care of themselves.

In my next post, I tell all the secrets we learned over the years and how we used them. Unlike so many others charging for pinewood derby car information, we share what we learned for free to benefit everyone that wants to read it.

What have you improved today?

Dan Lafever, Kaizeneer