Article

Should we have our own TPS "house"?

Dear Gemba Coach: My management wants to build our own version of the TPS (Toyota Production System) house in order to standardize our lean approach.…

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Case Study

How Organizations Can Increase Profitability While Improving the Work Environment

A restaurant’s management team discovers that enabling cooks to stay focused on value creation improves business performance and makes them more effective leaders.

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Article

Just in Time, Just in Case, and Just Plain Wrong

Jim Womack responds the the January 12th Wall Street Journal headline “Just-In-Time Inventories Make U.S. Vulnerable to a Pandemic”

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Article

TPS, the Thinking People System

The twin pillars of just-in-time and jidoka help support a full model about how to achieve customer satisfaction from employee satisfaction, through teamwork and respect,…

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Article

Why you can't convince your boss to support lean activities, unless ...

Dear Gemba  Coach: I work as a deployment champion in a manufacturing company, but I don’t have the support of my managers because they don´t…

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Case Study

Using Lean Thinking to Reinvent City Government

In many cities, stagnant tax revenues from a slowing economy coupled with rising healthcare and energy costs are causing budget shortfalls. To cope with the…

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Article

Why We Believe A Strong Customer Focus Is Needed To Drive A Lean Strategy

Is there any principle more core to the heart of lean than relentlessly focusing on the customer? In this collection of thoughts on the topic,…

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Case Study

Lean Management Case Studies Library

Learn how a variety of businesses and organizations used lean management principles to solve real business problems. We’ve arranged the examples in 16 categories to…

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Case Study

Fighting Cancer with Linear Accelerators and Accelerated Processes

A series of cross-functional lean improvement teams in the Radiation Oncology Department at the University of Michigan Health System (UMHS) applied lean principles to processes…

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Article

Ask Art: Why is Takt Time So Important in a Lean Turnaround?

Takt time represents the beat of the customer, or, the rate of demand, says Art Byrne: "As the primary focus of the lean company is…

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Article

Current and Future Challenges: A Reflection on 15 Years of the Lean Enterprise Institute

LEI CEO John Shook and Founder Jim Womack discuss the state of lean thinking past, present, and a possible future. I've written in the past…

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Article

Autoliv: Giving Power to the People

A case study looks at how Autoliv developed and sustained a lean-problem solving culture and how this global company shares best practices.

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Article

Lean WX – An Rx for Making Things Better

As someone whose understanding of lean/TPS grew exponentially by working on the line, Josh Howell encourages every would-be lean enterprise out there, even those who…

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Article

Once Again, Here's Why JIT Matters

Jeffrey Liker argues that recent media snipes fail to understand the crucial role JIT plays in a complete #lean system in surfacing problems & pressuring…

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Article

How Lean Tools Support the Principle of Respect (Part 1)

We first met Andy Ward when he was struggling to save his plant from closure in The Lean Manager. Since then he's helped lead a…

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Video

The Art of Lean: An Introduction to Muda, Mura, and Muri

Take a closer look at the concepts of muda, mura, and muri and learn why you have to consider all three when you pursue any…

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Article

Coaching to the Challenge

With coaching there is no black and white answer – everything depends on the criticality of the business situation, the level of the challenge, and…

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Case Study

Massachusetts General Looks to Lean

Northeast Proton Therapy Center uses lean principles to increase capacity to treat life-threatening diseases.

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Article

The Lean Dentist Webinar Follow-Up Questions & Answers

After reviewing all the questions that we couldn’t get to during the webinar with Dr. Sami Bahri, several key themes emerged, such as lean leadership…

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Case Study

Lean Thinking Therapy Spreads Beyond the Shop

Medtronic Xomed expanded the lean transformation beyond the shop floor to areas such as international distribution, product development, and domestic shipping. Along the way, company…

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