Doing some 5S with computer files this weekend I came across a folder of "kaizen songs" we had made for fun a few years ago. The melodies are well-known folk, rock or country tunes. This one is called Cycle Times They Are A-Changin' and it's based on the Bob Dylan song of similar name. Let me know if you like this and I'll share some of the others.

Cycle Times They Are A-Changin’
(to the melody of Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are A-Changin’”)

Come gather round managers wherever you roam
And admit that the stockpile around you has grown
And accept it that soon cash will be all but gone
If payroll to you is worth making
Then you’d better start flowing or you’ll be sitting at home
Cycle times, they are a-changin'

Come accountants and IEs who analyze with your pens
And start your stop watches, takt time’s come again
And don’t stop it too soon, for the work’s just begun
And there’s no telling who’ll be there working
For the assembler now will be later be in paint
Cycle times, they are a-changin’

Come salesmen and rep people please heed the call
Don’t stack parts in the doorway, don’t block up the halls
For he that gets the parts will be he that has pulled
There’s a battle in the warehouse and it’s raging
It’ll soon hit your commission and worsen your golf
Cycle times, they are a-changin’

Come schedulers who expedite all over the plant
Don’t say it takes longer with high customer demand
The manufacturing process is beyond your command
Your inventory is rapidly aging
Please get off of the shop floor if you can’t lend a hand
Cycle times they are a-changin’

The line, it is loaded, the pace, it is takt
The slow assembler will later be fast
And the pull system now will start with the last
The orders we’re rapidly filling
The first piece out of test will surely pass
Cycle times, they are a-changin’