Case Study

Thrustmaster Comes Around

The following Lean Enterprise Institute case study reveals how Thrustmaster of Texas successfully adopted lean thinking and practices to make sustainable improvements in a short…

by and David Drickhamer

Case Study

Canada Post Puts Its Stamp on a Lean Transformation

A  growing lean transformation at Canada Post's Calgary plant shows how lean principles can be implemented in environments other than manufacturing.

Article

Ask Art: Why Should I Convert to a Pull System?

Deliver more value to your customers by converting your business to a pull system and connecting demand directly to your production system, advises Art Byrne.

by Art Byrne

Video

Jim Womack Explains the Origins — and Value — of Value-Stream Mapping

In this brief video, the LEI founder and senior advisor offers an introduction — or refresher on why value-stream mapping is vital to your continuous…

by James (Jim) Womack, PhD

Book

The Lean Dentist

The Lean Dentist tells how a dental group transforms itself from typical batch-and-queue patient treatment to improved and profitable "one-patient flow." Formerly known as Follow…

by Sami Bahri

Case Study

For Athletic Shoe Company, the Soul of Lean Management Is Problem Solving

When it began a lean transformation in 2003, New Balance, the only athletic shoe manufacturer that still makes some products in the U.S., focused on…

by Chet Marchwinski

Article

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…

by Chet Marchwinski

Lexicon Term

Value Stream Mapping

Value-stream mapping (VSM) is diagraming every step involved in the material and information flows needed to bring a product from order to delivery. It is…

Article

Value-Stream Mapping in a Make-to-Order Environment

Tips from LEI author Mike Rother on applying value-stream mapping and continuous flow in high-variety, custom manufacturing environments.

by Mike Rother

Workbooks

Creating Level Pull

Creating Level Pull shows you how to advance a lean manufacturing transformation from a focus on isolated improvements to improving the entire plantwide production system…

by Art Smalley

Article

Which Will Prevail: Batch Thinking or Worker Leadership?

For most of two centuries, batch and queue production was the golden key that opened the factory doors of mass production and led many nations…

by Fred Stahl

Article

A Lean Walk Through History

Most of us don’t realize that we are heirs to a remarkably long struggle in human history to see beyond isolated points in order to…

by James (Jim) Womack, PhD

Article

A Trip to the Dentist That You’ll Enjoy

At AME's annual conference in Covington, KY, two weeks ago, Sami Bahri used his book, Follow the Learner, to base a great one hour keynote,…

by John Shook

Article

Are You Managing People or Making Way for Their Creativity to Shine?

"The role of the [lean manager] entails three main parts: clear definition of goals; provision of significant and consistent feedback; and maintaining challenges," writes Boaz…

by Boaz Tamir

Article

What is the Theory of Constraints, and How Does it Compare to Lean Thinking?

The following article reviews the Theory of Constraints (TOC), first published in The Goal by Eliyahu M. Goldratt and Jeff Cox in 1984, and compares…

by Sergio Rattner

Case Study

Sustain Your Lean Business System with a “Golden Triangle”

When medical device maker Phase 2 fought off an overseas challenge by meeting the global price, margins took a big hit. With help from customer…

by Chet Marchwinski

Case Study

Putting Lean Principles in the Warehouse

While lean principles and practices have been widely adopted in manufacturing over the last couple of decades, their use in the warehouse and distribution center…

by Doug Bartholomew

Article

The Anatomy of Innovation

The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Shadyside enjoys a reputation for innovation, due, in part, to its recognition that finding and fixing broken processes is…

by Chet Marchwinski

Article

The Mythical Value Stream Manager

If you want to make a serious impact in your improvements, consider shifting your focus outward to a value-stream level perspective and find someone who…

by Mike Orzen

Article

Jim Womack on how lean compares with Six Sigma, Re-engineering, TOC, TPM, etc., etc.

It amazes me, but I still get lots of questions about how “lean” compares with Six Sigma, Total Productive Maintenance, Business Process Re-engineering, Demand-Flow, the…

by James (Jim) Womack, PhD