Author: ulick

On May 1, 2020 I posted a blog post with the same name launching my book of the same name about identifying better ways of manufacturing. ‘There is always a better way’ is much more to me. It is my mission statement, what makes me tick. When I am doing most tasks I always ask […]

I visited Africa for the first time this winter. It was great to leave dreary wet Northern Europe to enjoy the sun vertically overhead near the Tropic of Capricorn in December. What was also pleasant was the optimism of the people and the feeling that Africa is developing quickly and the living standards of the […]

We have all heard a version the old joke where a lost tourist asks an old man at the side of the road for directions to a town. After pondering for while the old man responds carefully that if he were going there, he would not start from here. That is often the way with […]

Since Lean Thinking became popular in 1990s many industries have applied its practical cost saving methods. This includes the medical device industries. Many engineers who had worked with the lean methods in other industries salivated at the savings that could be made. Many of the savings they saw looked more like windfalls than low-hanging fruit!

I often find myself getting a bit too worked up over stuff that is not an immediate threat to me. And I can tell from much of what I hear on various media that I am not the only one. Why do we allow ourselves to worry about stuff that will have little effect on […]

Medical devices are ingenious inventions. They are clever devices that improve people’s lives. Replacement joints or limbs allow people to walk. Implantable pacemakers and defibrillators keep people with heart problems alive. Contact lenses allow clear vision without glasses. Stents keep blood vessels open. Various monitors check all vital signs. The range of devices and their […]

When you are time poor it can be difficult do new things or keep up with your field. We often give up trying to do new things or keeping in touch with old friends or colleagues or reading about new developments because we feel we have no time and other more pressing issues to deal […]

Many people fear change, and this is even more pronounced in regulated medical product industries. One of the major reasons for this is the law of unintended consequences. The danger is real and those of us whose job it is to develop improved products and manufacturing processes should pay this law special attention.

Do you wonder why your management team spends an hour discussing what color to paint the reception area, but approves the next year’s capital budget after a few minutes’ discussion? This effect was noted by Naval Historian Cyril Northcote Parkinson in 1955 and elaborated on in his book Parkinson’s Law in 1957, the main topic […]

How often have you been involved in a discussion in either the product development phase or later process troubleshooting and improvement where you had to make a decision between implementing a quick-fix solution to manage the problem or a longer term better correction that would make the problem go away? Often you will be expected […]