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52 The PCB Magazine • April 2016 nating motion waste (one of the Seven Deadly Wastes) and the 5S methodology of Seiton, or to Set in Order (Figure 1). At the next workstation I asked Ned why this process was set up in a horseshoe-shaped workflow. Ned said, "Gunther here is my pro- duction manager, and he told me one day that a lot of time was being wasted toting product from one end of the plant to the other to differ- ent machines for processing. So we decided that it would make sense to physically relocate the machines closer together, in the exact sequence needed, to minimize this wasted time." I gen- tly suggested that the U-shaped cell concept exemplifies the Lean goals of reducing waste and manufacturing footprint while increasing productivity and efficiency. Needless to say, vir- tually every step throughout Ned's process had its roots in Lean principles. Best practices are everywhere! An Apple a Day I happened to have had a very interesting 2015 from a medical sense, and spent a lot of time with my doctors. During a recent appoint- ment, as Kyle, my doctor's P.A., led me down the hall to the little patient room, he said, "The Doc has reorganized his patient rooms to al- ways be scheduled in the three rooms next to his office instead of spread out wherever there is an open room." Finding this curious, I said that the move makes sense, and asked him how he came up with the idea. He told me, "We are doing the whole best practices thing," and con- tinued to tell me that all the medical records are now digital and everyone carries around laptops to always have updated patient infor- mation wherever they are. As we did all the prep work, Kyle brought up my most recent MRI results on his laptop and went over the results (all is well, BTW), and when finished, said the Doc would be right in. Doctor Max came in five minutes later with his iPad, and not only had the same MRI results, but also the notes Kyle had just updated. With all the complaints about the wait time during doctor visits, it was rewarding to see one small practice trying to do something about it. They get it, and this small example personifies the es- sence of how best practices can work in the ser- vice sector. Best practices are everywhere! Nancy's Sour Cream Poka-Yoke Although this story is a bit dated, it bears repeating. My wife Nancy and I went out to dinner on a Friday evening, looking forward to a great charbroiled steak. The restaurant was quite busy and the staff was really hustling from the Friday fish fry crowd (a tasty tradition here in Wisconsin). Our dinners arrived, and Nancy best praCtiCes: it's only Common sense Figure 1: Examples of shadow boards.