Wow, I know it’s been a long time since I wrote a blog. I’m now back in the rhythm. My new position is settling down and I actually am very close to having one job with GE. I have been in transition and performing both position responsibilities lately, so I have been very busy. I must thank Debbie and my sister Laura for filling in for me. They did a great job.

Now, for my new position. I am a Six Sigma Lean Master Black Belt for operational Excellence, and it has nothing to do with martial arts. I actually help out GE manufacturing facilities improve quality output by working efficiently and effectively. Working “Lean” is the way many people describe it. Sometimes this is misconstrued as cutting workforce. That’s not what I do. I review the data, observe the actions, and then use statistics and applications to reduce any wasted steps from the process.

When I teach classes on “Lean,” I sometimes use the analogy of making coffee. Think about how you make a cup of coffee when you are at home. You need a few basic items, such as a coffee maker, water, filter, ground coffee, and a cup. Then I ask how far away is your coffee maker from your water source, and your filters and ground coffee from your coffee maker. Many times you will find that a person would walk up to 50 steps, in a normal size kitchen, to make a cup of coffee. If GE were in the business of making coffee, we would have the coffee grounds, filters, water, and maker all positioned so that you did not have to walk, and most likely the filters and coffee would be pre-made together. That would probably reduce time and money, while improving the quality of the coffee by making it with the exact pre-made (filter and grounds) amount each time.

Now, apply that thought process to large manufacturing facilities across the nation, and you have a good idea of one aspect of what I do for GE. You see these same concepts with race teams, when the crew has to tear down and rebuild a motor in under 75 minutes. You will notice that their tools are located right at arm’s length, so they do not have to waste time and steps walking to retrieve them. They move like a synchronized team; knowing exactly what to do on their part of the motor and how long it will take to complete. NASCAR pit stops are another example of “LEAN.”

Part of my position is identifying these areas of waste while a larger part of it is in training and teaching others to identify it.

So, that, in a quick simplistic nutshell, is what I do when I am not racing down the quarter mile. Many fans ask me if I apply my GE skills to my GEICO Motorcycle racing team. To answer that, I really try not to because I do not manage the team, however, it’s how I think, so sometimes it’s hard not to interject “Lean” ideas and principles.

Now that you know what I have been doing at work, we also had some guests with us over the western swing. My brother and family came for a visit from North Carolina. With the birth of my brother’s first grandchild, we now have five generations, so they came to see Grandma and take the 5 ‘gen’ picture. We have one on my mom’s side too. My sister and her family came up from California, so we had the whole family there, with the exception of my sister’s husband who had to work that weekend. With the race team and my family on premises, we had about 20 people at our house for a week. Good thing we had a couple houses and a host of Motor Homes for sleeping quarters.

It also happened to be the same weekend as my mom and dad’s birthday, so we kids, grandkids and great grand child, pitched in for a tree to plant and then we actually planted it for them. I haven’t had the property landscaped yet, so this tree added a great deal of green that my mom was desperately seeking. It also gave my dad a chance to use the tractor, which he loves.

Well, that is it if now and keep checking back for updates. I am back in the rhythm.