George Taninecz

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About George Taninecz

As vice president of research for the MPI Group, George Taninecz applies more than 20 years of experience in studying management and operations. He develops research fielding and analysis tools that enable organizations to assess their performances, gauge best practices, and define paths for improvement. He also oversees the creation of thought-provoking white papers, reports, and unique-format knowledge (e.g., crossword puzzles, comic strips) for MPI clients that present industry trends and issues, management strategies and practices, and primary and/or secondary research findings. George can be reached by email at gtaninecz@mpi-group.com.
2 11, 2015

Innovation Evolution

By |2019-10-29T17:11:01+00:00November 2nd, 2015|George Taninecz, Innovation|Comments Off on Innovation Evolution

I recently retrieved my turntable from the basement, dusted it off, and tossed on the 1978 vinyl classic Life in the Foodchain by Tonio K. I enjoyed it as much as ever, and could hear why Steve Simels, Stereo Review magazine, once wrote that it was “the greatest album ever recorded.” This got me to wondering what had become of Tonio K. (Steve Krikorian). I found www.toniok.com, and learned that Krikorian had released eight albums through 2001. He has been writing songs for other artists, including Al Green, Patty Smyth, and Burt Bacharach, with works appearing in films such [...]

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11 08, 2015

Gardening PDCA

By |2016-12-21T22:49:33+00:00August 11th, 2015|George Taninecz, Operations Improvement, PDCA|Comments Off on Gardening PDCA

The do phase of PDCA (plan/do/check/adjust) usually gets the most attention. Even if people don’t like change, they eventually get on board during the do phase and try to improve their function, process, or work activities. It often happens, though, that after changes are made, many move on to the next problem or opportunity and fail to follow the PDCA cycle to the check and adjust phases. For one activity that I annually seek to improve — vegetable gardening — I prefer the check phase. Each year in late November and December, I receive seed catalogs from across the [...]

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7 07, 2015

Normal People in Wrong Processes

By |2016-12-21T22:49:52+00:00July 7th, 2015|George Taninecz, Lean, People, Process|Comments Off on Normal People in Wrong Processes

By George Taninecz, VP of Research Every day somebody somewhere irritates someone — me included — and the knee-jerk response is to finger the “bad” individual for an incompetence that led to our aggravation. But, as lean experts have been telling us for years, most bad experiences have nothing to do with bad people. These are simply “good people in bad processes.” I’m no lean consultant or practitioner, but I don’t think that’s quite right, either. Leave the labeling of “good” or “bad” to a higher power. I think what we’re really talking about are normal people (aka a [...]

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8 06, 2015

Internet of Things Strategy — Smart Devices Need Smart People

By |2016-12-21T22:50:42+00:00June 8th, 2015|George Taninecz, Internet of Things|Comments Off on Internet of Things Strategy — Smart Devices Need Smart People

Many manufacturers are aggressively incorporating intelligence into their production assets. Our recent MPI Manufacturing Study found that 10% of plant equipment (median) now has technologies embedded that enable machine-to-machine or machine-to-IT system communications (a much higher average figure of 23.7% highlights how extensively a few manufacturers are investing in Internet of Things capabilities). So, is the Internet of Things (IoT) really taking off? Not hardly and not yet, for a couple of reasons. First, digitally lacing together machines is a prerequisite for the IoT. But it’s not as if equipment is suddenly going to become self-aware and start producing [...]

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