Article

Advice from the Gemba: How Can I Change a Culture?

One of the most common questions asked by lean leaders is the question of culture change. How, they ask, can we change a firmly rooted…

by Lean Leaper

Article

Accelerating Justice with Lean Forensics

One of our most popular subjects on The Lean Post is the use of lean in unorthodox places. But one gemba that we have yet…

Video

A Radical Redesign of Making Crudito -- and All Restaurant Kitchens

Using animations of a few basic continuous improvement tools, Matt Savas, a team leader at the Lean Enterprise Institute and a fervent foodie, offers a…

by Matthew Savas

Article

Is Toyota No Longer a Guiding Light?

Dear Gemba Coach: I'm the lean manager of a mid-sized company, and have been getting teased by many folks about Toyota's troubles. It's mostly good-natured, but…

by Michael Ballé

Article

Lean Thinking: A Roundup

In honor of the 20th anniversary of the publishing of Lean Thinking, by Jim Womack and Dan Jones, Lean Post Senior Editor Tom Ehrenfeld presents…

by Tom Ehrenfeld

Article

The Beginner’s Guide To Lean

Toyota has just overtaken Ford as number two in the global motor industry, and at the Tokyo motor show confirmed its intentions to overtake General…

by Dan Jones

Article

How Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Teaching Embodies Lean Thinking

What can we learn about lean thinking from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.? Christopher D. Chapman explains.

by Christopher D. Chapman

Article

Adopt a 5S Mindset to Sustain Your Lean Work

Focusing everyone on “housekeeping” is one of the most powerful mechanisms for empowering team members and driving sustainment of any lean effort at the lowest…

by Andrew Quibell

Article

Tools Are Not the Purpose

Coach Eric Ethington shares his experience about learning how A3 thinking must always be the guiding principle when using A3 (and related) tools

Article

Lean Business-IT Integration, Part Two: Obstacles to Value-Stream Transformation

In this, the second of a five part series, LEI faculty member Steve Bell offers a framework to help overcome the common obstacles to a…

by Steve Bell

Article

Lean Financial Planning – How well does your budget serve its purpose?

How well does your budget serve its purpose? Asking this question can lead to a rich and revealing discussion with operational and finance teams alike.…

Article

Continually Improving the Strategic Planning and Execution Process

Bill MacPherson, managing director of Mercer Celgar, a division of Mercer International, describes how adopting hoshin kanri catalyzes and ensures the achievement of breakthrough objectives.…

by Patricia Panchak and Patricia Panchak

Case Study

Becoming – and Developing -- More Effective Leaders

Bill MacPherson, managing director of Mercer Celgar, a division of Mercer International, shares how adopting hoshin kanri helps transform how leaders lead and develop their…

by Patricia Panchak

Article

Addressing the Labor Shortage by Innovating the Work

Learn how a restaurant is working to attract and retain workers by improving the work inside their commissary.

by Josh Howell and Matthew Savas

Article

Why reduce inventory further?

Dear Gemba Coach,We have a lot of machining operations in our process, and we carry inventory. What is the best way to show employees the…

by Michael Ballé

Article

How Lean Changed My Work: Lean Without Knowing It

Last month LEI sent out an email asking the lean community how lean changed their work. For Jeremy Venable of Shell Chemical, lean not only…

by Jeremy Venable

Article

The Challenges of Coaching

I’ve stepped into a new role recently, assuming responsibility for a variety of new-to-me jobs. One of my new jobs is writing this monthly e-letter.…

by Josh Howell

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

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

Should producing products with zero defects be my top goal?

Dear Gemba Coach: Is zero defects really the first goal? The number of defects doesn’t necessarily relate to the user’s experience with a product, does it?

by Michael Ballé