Article

So, what are you going to do about it?

What a year for global supply chains! It started quietly, with a few leading firms taking the lead in reintegrating hopelessly disintegrated supply lines. Then…

by John Shook

Article

Why is Flow Easy, and Quality Hard?

Dear Gemba Coach: My lean team has become proficient at teaching flow but it's not gaining traction when it comes to quality issues. Do you…

by Michael Ballé

Article

Ask Art: “Do lean conversions actually go smoothly, like in the books?”

Art Byrne receives many inquiries from people wondering whether lean transformations really are as smooth as they seem in books, or if the way is…

by Art Byrne

Article

Ask Art: Does Lean Really Work Everywhere?

There's a common misconception that Lean is "just some manufacturing thing." Read why Art Byrne believes Lean can be applied any and everywhere.

by Art Byrne

Article

Why audit standard work? And what is the best approach?

Dear Gemba Coach: Can you help me determine the best way to conduct audits of standard work (SW)? The Toyota Way Fieldbook describes a layered…

by Michael Ballé

Article

How do we get started with standard work?

How do we get started with standard work? The literature seems to say there can’t be meaningful kaizen without standards, but although we have procedures…

by Michael Ballé

Article

5 Missing Pieces in Your Standardized Work (Part 1 of 3)

John Shook offers an overview of the five most frequent misunderstandings about this fundamental lean practice and expands on three of them.

by John Shook

Article

Lean Warehousing and Distribution Benefits Your Company, Customers, and Supply Chain

Lean warehousing sounds like an oxymoron. But in this interview, lean practitioner and Toyota veteran David Graham explains how lean concepts apply to warehouse and…

by David Graham

Article

Learning Through Struggle

LEI coach Danielle Blais reflects on one of the most frustrating (and ultimately, most rewarding) coaching moments she's experienced so far in her career.

by Danielle McGuiness

Article

Standardized Work for Kaizen: Define, Achieve, Maintain, Improve

We can all agree that kaizen (continuous improvement to create more value with less waste) is important, but do you have standardized work for kaizen?…

by Tracey Richardson

Article

Leaning Healthcare

Healthcare is the next great industry to begin the Lean journey. The existing model in which the hospital doctor acting as a skilled craftsperson effectively…

by Dan Jones

Article

Mapping a Reading List to Lean

We humans want to see what is happening, understand how we and our colleagues best collaborate, solve problems, make good decisions, and have an insatiable…

by Jim Benson

Article

Why implement lean when it fails so often?

Dear Gemba Coach: Is it true that lean often fails? What’s the point then?

by Michael Ballé

Article

Isn’t lean all about culture?

Dear Gemba Coach: Isn’t lean all about culture, really?

by Michael Ballé

Article

Follow-up Webinar Q&A with Jim Lancaster, Lantech CEO and author of the Work of Management

"The Real Work of Management" webinar drew an engaged audience that wanted to know more about the daily management system that CEO Jim Lancaster installed…

by Jim Lancaster

Article

Seeing the Work of a Daily Management System

Daily management systems tap visual elements that expose problems, and also use obeyas as thinking spaces for reflecting on broader challenges, says Michael Balle.

by Michael Ballé

Article

5 Ways My Thinking Changed With the Help of a Lean Coach

"Coaching for development is different than being managed," writes Deborah McGee. "Lean coaching in our case was not directing an improvement swat team or teaching…

by Deborah McGee

Article

Tap the Power of Flow to Develop Lean Thinkers

Flow is personal--a moment of enrichment, and a mental state. It´s stretching oneself just that little bit extra, not because someone else tells us to,…

by Eivind Reke

Lexicon Term

Pitch

The amount of time needed in a production area to make one container of products. The formula for pitch is: takt time x pack-out quantity…

Article

The Art of Silent Observation

Silent observation is not as intuitive as it may sound. Andrew Quibell often meets people who think it's as simple as standing and watching the…

by Andrew Quibell