Lexicon Term

5S

5S refers to five related terms, beginning with an S sound, describing workplace practices conducive to visual control and lean production. The five terms in…

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5S for Information

When a Lean Thinker asked how to apply the principles of 5S to the company server, Dan Markovitz responded with advice for applying these five…

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Back to Basics

I often take advantage of relaxing holiday time to go over old things, take care of less pressing matters that I often don't have time…

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Forms and Templates

Downloads for A3 problem solving, standard work, project management, and value stream mapping.

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What's wrong with taking a tools approach to lean management?

Dear Gemba Coach: I keep hearing that a tool approach to lean is wrong, but tools deliver results – how can that be wrong?

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Lean Roundup: 5S

LEI's Senior Editor Tom Ehrenfeld provides an engaging insight into the web's best resources on 5S, a fundamental lean tool that was the first many…

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Case Study

Shifting to Value-Stream Managers:a Shop-Floor Revolution Leads to a Revolution in Plant Organization

Two years into a lean transformation, the low-hanging fruit has been plucked and progress has started to slow. Read how a Thomas & Betts plant…

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Dentist Drills Down to the Root Causes of Office Waste

Applying lean concepts to dentistry isn't as difficult as, well, pulling teeth. Dr. Sami Bahri, driven by a gut feeling that the traditional method of…

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Article

5S Again and Again and Again

Dear Gemba Coach,†I've just inherited responsibility for our 5S efforts in our company. Any suggestions for how I can get the program back on track?

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Article

Planning the Purposeful Turnaround

The capability to repurpose, and then to redesign and retool, is critically important in these challenging times, says Josh Howell, who adds: I hope you…

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Article

What's Your Lean Origin Story? And Why Does It Matter?

I’m wondering, as a leader and a coach, how can I help others develop similar routines, propagating, for example, the principle of 'work/er first' or…

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Article

Can 5S apply to coding?

Dear Gemba Coach: We’re exploring lean in software development. Can 5S apply to coding?

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Case Study

Change in Implementation Approach Opens the Door at EMCO to Greater Gains in Less Time

Many lean thinkers ask how they can accelerate the pace of a transformation or spread it to other facilities. EMCO Enterprise’s Des Moines plant has…

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