Provides context about using A3 reports and A3 thinking by clarifying the link between the use of specific tools and their ultimate design in a system made to make better thinkers. (SoL Journal, Volume 7, Number 2. Full article access requires membership in the Society for Organizational Learning.)

The first step in applying lean tools in an office is to understand the flow of work by mapping the process. An estimated 75 to 90 percent of the steps in service and administrative processes add no value. The short article suggests what data to gather for mapping and cites some results. (Quality Digest)

Whether you are fixing a manufacturing or office value stream, lean is “about the creation of a problem solving and fast-learning culture,” said Jim Luckman, a faculty member at the nonprofit Lean Enterprise Institute.  Luckman who has been a manufacturing plant manager, an R&D center manager, and head of a small startup company, recently discussed how to apply value-stream mapping in nonmanufacturing value streams with Business901 podcast host Joe Dager. One of the workshops Luckman teaches for LEI is on Value-Stream Mapping for the Office and Service

Dealing with "cats and dogs,” parts or products that are typically small volume, high variety, hard to make, or all of the above, always present a challenge. Many companies decide to outsource them,keeping the "high runners" in-house. In The Birth of Lean, Taiichi Ohno faced the same dilemma in the early days at Toyota. He argued for making the "cats and dogs" in-house. Making the low-volume parts in-house would mean high unit costs, and that would pressure the company to tackle kaizen improvements and cost reductions.