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When the Toyota Way Meets Industry 4.0
Industry 4.0 is not a disruptive force that makes TPS irrelevant, but rather can be an enabler that builds on TPS culture and thinking, argues…
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Ask Art: What's So Important About Reducing Setup Times?
An overview of the strategic and tactical benefits of eliminating waste from changeovers demonstrates why it should be a focus of manufacturers’ kaizen efforts.
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Should I pursue waste elimination or lead-time reduction?
Dear Gemba Coach: We’re having a heated debate in our company over whether to pursue cost reduction through waste elimination by accelerating kaizen events, or whether…
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Avoiding Lean 'Flatlining': A Podcast with Mark Deluzio, Art Byrne, and Jim Womack
Mark Deluzio, lean consultant, practitioner, and author of Flatlined, discusses enduring challenges with Art Byrne and Jim Womack on this WLEI podcast.
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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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Standardize Your Problem-Solving Approach? Why One Size Does Not Fit All
Lean management practitioners know what a powerful tool standardization is for continuously improving processes. Without standards, there can be no improvement as the old saying…
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Is a lean CEO's job different from a traditional CEO?
Dear Gemba Coach: How does the role of CEO in lean management differ from that in traditional management?
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Remembering Norman Bodek, the “Miraculous Life” of an Author, Teacher, and Publisher of Groundbreaking Business Books
Called “Mr. Productivity” and the “Godfather of Lean,” Norman Bodek began 41 years ago translating and publishing groundbreaking books by the Japanese managers who had…
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Keep Calm and Manage Stably: Akio Toyoda’s Response to Crisis
When we read the Bloomberg article Lockdown Leads Toyota Chief to Question Core Tenet for Carmaker, we were surprised, even a bit concerned. Questioning “long-ingrained practices” is…
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How Can Our Back Office Sustain Lean?
Dear Gemba Coach: The improvement program at the back office of the bank where I am a lean facilitator is slipping. For several years, we…
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Isao Kato Interview on Shigeo Shingo's Influence on TPS
Isao Kato believed that people development cannot be separated from production system development. During his career at Toyota he developed training materials under the direction…
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It's Time to See JIT as A Hero Rather than A Villain
Lean and JIT production have never been the primary causes of materials in the world's supply chains reported over the past year, says Ken Eakin.…
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Build Your “House” of Production on a Stable Foundation
Faced with downtime on key pieces of sophisticated equipment in a machine-intensive environment, Delphi's Plant 1 launched a successful improvement effort by focusing on rigorous…
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Does A Lack Of Physical Inventory Make Office Work “Different”?
While "waste" is easy to see and address in a factory setting, people working in an office environment have just as much to gain from…
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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…
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Lean Coffee-Inspired Coaching
Lean Coffee has been praised for making meetings more productive by giving all participants a say in creating an agenda that works for everyone. LEI…
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Lean in the IT Department
Dear Gemba Coach: My company has been doing lean for a while now, and I've been asked to start lean in the IT department. I've…
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The Backbone of Lean in the Back Shops
Learn why the lean concept of every part, every interval (EPEI) is the “backbone” of lean in this aerospace machine shop by leveling the mix…
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Isn’t lean just a scam to squeeze teams for more production?
Dear Gemba Coach: Lean is a scam. People like you who write about “respect” are pushing a smoke screen that allows consultants to just squeeze…
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Do We Need a Truck Preparation Area?
Dear Gemba Coach: As logistics manager, I disagree with our lean expert who insists we should have “truck preparation areas” in the shipping hall. It…
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