In the News

September 3, 2019

Local nonprofit ready to respond ahead of Hurricane Dorian

SBP CEO Zack Rosenburg tells NBC in New Orleans how it aims to shrink the time between disaster and recovery as Hurricane Dorian threatens. Rosenburg is co-author of the new book Getting Home about how SBP used #lean management principles to cut in half the time to rebuild homes after hurricanes, floods, and tornadoes.

September 2, 2019

Reese May: Hurricane Dorian is a monster storm – Three critical things Americans in its path need to know

Three critical recommendations for Americans in a hurricane's path are detailed in this Op-Ed by Reese May, chief strategy officer at SBP, a disaster recovery nonprofit that has developed a new recovery model based on #lean concepts that are detailed in the new book Getting Home.

August 29, 2019

Preparations in Florida ahead of Hurricane Dorian

SBP CEO Zack Rosenburg discusses on Fox Business News how to close the “gap” between short and long-term recovery from hurricanes, set recovery goals, and learn lessons from past disasters. He is co-author of the new book Getting Home about how SBP used #lean management principles to cut in half the time to rebuild homes after disasters.

August 26, 2019

Two years after Hurricane Harvey, 83-year-old woman finally back in home

TV station Click2Houston covers 83-year-old Maxie Arvie finally getting home after her Houston house was destroyed during Hurricane Harvey. The #lean management rebuilding process that expedited her return after years of delay is described in the new book Getting Home, which details how the nonprofit SBP uses lean principles to cut in half the time to rebuild homes after hurricanes, floods, and tornadoes. 

August 12, 2019

Toyota Production System Gives Company Influence Far Beyond Its Plants

An article on the Chief Executive web site about Toyota's expansion plans in North America notes the influence of the Toyota Production System (TPS) beyond the auto industry. Jim Lentz, CEO of Toyota North America, cites the use of TPS by SBP to rebuild more homes after Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans than any other nonprofit organization did. After applying TPS, SBP cut the time to rebuild a house to 62 days, half of what it had been, and at half the cost private contractors would charge. Details about how SBP applied TPS #lean principles are in the new book Getting Home.

June 18, 2019

Lean and Robots: Dynamic Duo or Disruptive Disaster?

Jim Morgan, co-author of Designing the Future and a lean product development executive tells IndustryWeek, "Lean principles and robots can enhance each other. It's about balance."

June 12, 2019

How Can I Engage Our Leaders to Learn (and Teach) Lean?

Lean Post contributor and former CEO Art Byrne explains that under lean management, understanding what you did is one thing, but understanding why is really the important takeaway.

June 11, 2019

What Is an Engineer’s Most Important Tool? A Good Pair of Shoes

Product development executive Jim Morgan tells IndustryWeek why big data does not always equal deep knowledge in this interview. Morgan heads the Lean Enterprise Institute's effort in Lean Product and Process Development.

June 3, 2019

Value Add Accountant

The Value Add Accountant, the latest book from Jean Cunningham, is reviewed on page 89 of the June issue of Acuity, an online publication aimed at business leaders, entrepreneurs, and thinkers. The book expands the message she and Orry Fiume delivered in Real Numbers by providing detailed examples of how to reveal accounting waste, start a personal value-add transition, and get buy-in on these pivotal accounting changes. Cunningham, executive chair at the nonprofit Lean Enterprise Institute, also describes how accounting can effectively evaluate corporate waste reduction and improvement activities.

May 20, 2019

A lean and green approach to reduce waste, improve quality

John Shook, a senior advisor at the nonprofit Lean Enterprise Institute, makes the connection between lean production and sustainable food production for Food Engineering magazine.

May 15, 2019

Legal Sea Foods’ New Problem-Solving Philosophy Brings a Sea Change

LEI Senior Coach Josh Howell tells Restaurant Business magazine how the application of lean management principles developed by carmaker Toyota,  led to faster service and better preparation at Legal Sea Foods restaurants.

March 26, 2019

InfoQ Interviews Authors of the LEI Book Designing the Future

Excellence in #productdevelopment requires collaboration across the extended enterprise. Lean Product and Process Development can help you accomplish this, Jim Morgan and Jeff Liker, authors of Designing the Future, tell InfoQ.

March 14, 2019

Chicago Business Journal: People on the Move

Chicago Business Journal: The Lean Enterprise Institute names Jean Cunningham as its new executive chairman and interim CEO.

March 11, 2019

Boston Business Journal: People on the Move

Boston Business Journal: Lean Enterprise Institute names Jean Cunningham as its new executive chairman and interim CEO.

February 18, 2019

Art Smalley, author of the new book Four Types of Problems, talks to IndustryWeek about “TPS in the Age of Disruption”

In this IndustryWeek story about auto industry disruption,  Art Smalley, author of the new book Four Types of Problems, points out that deployment of the Toyota Production System to the company's new digital businesses is “the fourth wave,” of TPS expansion. 

February 17, 2019

The Chicago Tribune quotes John Shook, a senior advisor to the nonprofit Lean Enterprise Institute, as electric truck startup Rivian gains traction

A Chicago Tribune story about plans by Rivian, the all-electric pickup truck startup, to use the closed Mitsubishi auto plant in Bloomington, Il, reveals the preparatory work done by CEO R.J. Scaringe and board member John Shook, a senior advisor to the nonprofit Lean Enterprise Institute. 

February 6, 2019

LEI executive co-authors research paper: “Using lean thinking to improve hypertension in a community health centre: a quality improvement report”

Alice Lee, the Lean Enterprise Institute's executive director of strategy, is a co-author of this research paper published in the UK by BMJ Open Quality about using lean management methods to improve the quality and lower the cost of healthcare at a federally qualified health center In Massachusetts.

January 9, 2019

Jim Morgan, co-author of Designing the Future, talks to IndustryWeek about how to build high-performing teams?

Jim Morgan, a former global engineering director and co-author of Designing the Future explains in this excerpt in IndustryWeek, why developing high-performance teams lead not only to better business performance but also provide a tremendous personal experience.

December 26, 2018

A Baker’s Dozen of the Best in Lean and Continuous Improvement in 2018

Three Lean Post articles made IndustryWeek’s “baker’s dozen” list of 13 articles on the topic of lean and continuous improvement “that drew the greatest interest from readers in 2018.”

Mark Reich’s "Cardboard, Duct Tape, String, and Toyota"
Jeff Liker’s "Tesla vs. TPS"
Tom Ehrenfeld’s "Lean Lessons from Tesla."

October 30, 2018

Automotive News quotes Lean Enterprise Institute Chairman John Shook on Startup Rivian’s lean-manufacturing mindset

Lean Enterprise Institute Chairman John Shook, who also is chairman at auto startup Rivian, tells Automotive News about the company's focus on lean management as it is about to start production.