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?…
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Article
Thinking About Buffers and Production Systems (Birth of Lean Chapter IV – "The Evolution of Buffers at Toyota" – Kaneyoshi Kusunoki )
John Shook: "This week I continue my indulgence in exploring the Birth of Lean with a look at another chapter that some readers may tend…
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Article
Reflecting to Learn: Takeaways and Reflections on the A3 Process
In the wake of yesterday's interview with Mr. Isao Yoshino on the roots of the A3 process at Toyota, LEI Chairman and CEO John Shook…
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Article
The Lean Way Forward at Ford
I’ve been reflecting on today’s remarkable headlines about the latest retreat by the Ford Motor Company as part of its “Way Forward” campaign. While reflecting,…
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Article
Kaizen and Innovation
Dear Gemba Coach: Can kaizen stifle breakthrough innovation?
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Article
There are so many lean management principles to know and tools to master at the start – is there an easier way to begin?
Dear Gemba Coach: Isn’t there an easier way to start lean? For a beginner, it seems like such a mountain to climb – all these…
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Article
What's wrong with taking a tools approach to lean management?
Dear Gemba Coach: I keep hearing that a tool approach to lean is wrong, but tools deliver results – how can that be wrong?
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Article
Why Are There So Many Points of View About What Lean Is?
Dear Gemba Coach: I’ve been interested in lean for over two years now, and can’t quite understand why after 20 years there are still so…
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Article
If lean is all about people, why are the discussions impersonally cold and rational?
Dear Gemba Coach: Lean thinkers say it’s all about people, but the debates are then all so cold and rational. Where are the emotions and the…
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Case Study
Lean + Circular Principals = a New True North for Manufacturer
SunPower's lean journey resembled most others until it defined a new mission, a new True North. The mission statement changed from the business-like “install 10…
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Case Study
Manufacturing Balancing Act: Pull Versus ERP
In this follow-up story to our case study about Phase 2 Medical Manufacturing, Inc., the company faces an enviable dilemma: because the lean transformation has…
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Article
How Pall Corporation Accelerated the Covid-19 Vaccine Process Development using Lean Thinking and Practice
Learn how Pall Corp developed and deployed a full manufacturing process in eight weeks – an 80% reduction compared to typical development times.
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Article
Lean in Sales and Marketing
“Half my advertising budget is wasted – trouble is, I don’t know which half,” department store magnate and marketing pioneer, John Wanamaker, famously said. That…
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Article
Create Constancy of Purpose
Looking back on the admirable work of two lean leaders who established constancy of purpose, Jim Womack asks: what would have happened to the world…
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Article
How to Respond to the ‘Great Resignation’
A trip to the gemba reveals an overlooked management strategy that could be the most effective way to keep your employees from quitting their jobs.
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Article
Lean thinkers, doers unite to discuss workplace challenges
Explore how the Future of People at Work Symposium tackled today’s workplace challenges, with leaders urging us to embrace lean principles and emerging technologies for…
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Article
Manage the Contract or Improve the Value Stream?
As much as I would like to, I can't walk frequently along every type of value stream. As a result, it has been a while…
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Article
The 5 Diseases of Prioritization
Prioritization is rarely a problem by itself. Instead, it’s a symptom of a set of illnesses: Swervy, Thickets, Costeoporosis, Planemia, Politicitis. Here’s the cure from…
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Article
More Evidence That ThedaCare Rocks
LEI coach Danielle Blais reflects on her recent gemba visit to the lean healthcare organization, Appleton Medical Center in Appleton, Wisconsin—a ThedaCare hospital widely known…
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Article
Personal Kanban: You Can’t Manage What You Can’t See
Think personal kanban can't be applied to knowledge work? Think again. Drawing on examples from Jim Benson and Tonianne DeMaria Berry's book "Personal Kanban: Mapping…
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