Article
Part 2: What is the best lean way to understand VALUE (in terms of what our customers want)?
Dear Gemba Coach, What is the best lean way to understand VALUE (in terms of what our customers want)
View article
Article
I want to apply lean to engineering. Any thoughts?
Dear Gemba Coach: I am the regional manufacturing VP of a large industrial company. After the latest reorganization, engineering now comes under me. I’ve had…
View article Article
An A3 Antidote to the Opiate Epidemic
Opiate use in America has been spiking at an alarming rate. Many healthcare organizations, such as the University of Michigan Medical School, are trying to…
View article
Article
Innovation in the Work
LEI's chairman explores the meaning of “innovation” and lean thinking’s relationship to it, bringing a fresh perspective to challenge traditional comparisons.
View article
Article
Respect for People Means Taking Care with Your Questions
Asking effective questions is an art in and of itself, says Karen Gaudet, in this excerpt from her new book, Steady Work. Of the many…
View article
Article
Product Development Is Where to Cut Carbon Emissions; Here's How
Consumers want products updated more frequently, which is great for consumers and business but not so great for the environment because a third of man-made…
View article
Article
How should I accelerate my own learning?
Dear Gemba Coach: How should I accelerate my own learning?
View article Article
Lean Product and Process Development – Stories from the Field
Jim Morgan shares stories of his field work and research for LPPD at LEI.
View article
Article
Ask Art: How Do I Get Senior Leadership On Board with Lean?
Lean transformations are rarely successful without the support and participation of senior leadership. Art Byrne, former CEO of Wiremold, shares his advice to lean practitioners…
View article
Article
The Role of Strategic Design Events in Lean Healthcare: An Interview with Mindy Hangsleben
Faced with a new incoming healthcare policy, Mindy Hangsleben and her team at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services knew a transformation was needed.…
View article
Article
Now What Do We Call the Karaoke Bar?
We asked the lean community to sound off on whether or not they favored using Japanese terms in their lean transformations. The results were interesting…
View article
Article
Andon Cues Service Center to Respond to Customer Queue
An Ohio Mutual service center has no andon cord to stop a production line but the principal is the same as in a factory --…
View article
Article
Thinking Outside the Pyramid
Machiavelli said it's better to be feared than loved. Lean practitioner Daniel Fisher rejects this idea and argues it’s better to respect people and be…
View article
Article
Understanding the True Cost of Care
"Today, frontline clinicians are being asked to provide even more cost-efficient care to patients yet few understand how to do so," writes Jordan Harmon of…
View article
Article
No Such Thing As a Funny Lean Joke?
Does a good lean joke exist? LEI staffer Josh Rapoza really wants to believe it's possible for Lean and humor to come together.
View article
Article
Taiichi Ohno's Birthday and 100 Years of Lean
Today is Taiichi Ohno's birthday. Were he alive, the primary developer of the Toyota Production System would be turning 100 years old. Much has happened…
View article Article
Is Lean Thinking Art or Science? Yes
Calling the recent book Lean Conversations a landmark initiative on lean and the arts, John Shook observes that "If Jean Cocteau’s famous observation that 'art…
View article
Article
Learning Lean - Collaboratively
John Shooks reflects on the importance of continual learning in lean practice, emphasizing the distinction between being a passive knower and an active learner.
View article
Video
Getting Started with Lean Thinking and Practice
This brief animation answers the novice lean thinkers’ most common question.
View video
Article
Lean Information Management
Recently I was walking through a manufacturing operation and found myself wondering about the principles of lean information management, in particular with regard to production…
View article