Will Sampson's Page

One of my favorite lean practitioners to talk with is Paul Akers at FastCap. His enthusiasm for lean manufacturing and the Toyota Production System is absolutely infectious, and his ability to find and inspire creative solutions seems boundless. A new book has documented some of the lean improvements Akers and his team at FastCap have done. The book, written by Jon Miller of the Kaizen Institute, is titled "Creating a Kaizen Culture." For…

Over the years, I've met legions of woodworkers interested in turning their hobby into a business. I've also met scores of them who did exactly that with varying degrees of success. There is a wonderful ongoing and lengthy discussion of this over at LinkedIn that is worth reading if you are…

Having recently returned from both the Kitchen and Bath Industry Show and the International Contemporary Furniture Fair, I see a continuing trend for mixed media in cabinetry and furniture. Everyone is trying to use different materials for visual effect. Metal, wood, glass, reclaimed lumber, tile, plastic, engineered material such as solid surface, granite, stone, terrazzo, and more recycled stuff than I can list. One of the trends is the use of glass in countertops and backsplashes,…

Every shop I've ever visited had a pile of offcuts stacked off to the side (or in some cases the piles seemed to be taking over the shop). But check out this clever use of scrap to disguise a storage cabinet. So, have I been missing something? I thought the piles of scrap were more of an eye sore than a standard cabinet would be. Maybe I've been missing the inherent beauty in the scrap pile --…

I spent much of yesterday at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair in New York City. I always enjoy visiting this show, which in 2013 marks its 25th anniversary. It is a very design-focused show, typically featuring cutting edge furniture design from all over the world. I was especially looking forward to the show this year because my schedule did not allow me to attend for a couple of years. I did indeed enjoy the show, and I'll be…