Article

Who Owns Your A3? (Part Two)

In this second of two columns, Mark Reich explains why people must own their A3 reports as a means of developing their ability to properly…

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Policy Deployment: aka Strategy Alignment, aka Hoshin Kanri (Appendix 2 to the Eletter “Lead from the Front, Lead from Behind”)

As a way of illustrating the most common misconception about hoshin kanri, namely, that it’s a top-down deployment process, LEI CEO John Shook explains in…

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Manufacturing’s Next Chapter

Using the experience of GE Appliance and other manufacturers, LEI CEO John Shook reminds lean thinkers that much remains to be written in “manufacturing’s next…

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Accounting for the Right Reasons

My first job after graduating from Purdue University was as a manufacturing engineer with the Japanese company, Aisin Seiki. Aisin U.S.A. was in the process…

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Video

What are the Three A's of the A3?

John Shook explains the three A's of the A3 in this video clip from the presentation that he and Lisa Yerian, chief improvement officer at…

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Inventory Turns Charts

How can you tell if your firm is really getting lean — count the future state maps on the walls, calculate the number of kaizen…

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Follow-up Q & A to the Webinar "Big Company Disease: What is it? and Why Should I Care?”

The following questions represent the most-asked ones that we couldn't get to during the webinar “Big Company Disease” with presenter Pascal Dennis.

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How to Lead with Respect

Showing respect to employees falls far short of leading with respect. Discover the seven core practices that true lean leaders use everyday to lead with…

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Fight for Your Lean Team

Managers, supervisors and coaches should mindfully support the storming and norming that teams require in order to grow an existing work team into a high…

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Be a Better Coach; Learn to “Force” Reflection Part 2: Forcing Managers and Execs to Reflect

How to hold senior-level leaders accountable for expected behaviors and practices, such as the PDCA process' "check/reflect" phase.

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Back to Basics: Jim Womack on Why Managers Need a "Lean State of Mind"

In this classic eletter from 2009, Jim Womack explains the crucial importance of a "lean state of mind" if a lean manager is going to…

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Video

How Building in Learning and Knowledge Reuse Improves Product Development Success

Three leading practitioners share successful examples of how they built learning and knowledge reuse into their development process.

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As Your Customer’s Definition of Value Evolves, So Must Yours

If you don’t realize that your customer’s definition of value has expanded to include social responsibility and racial equity, you may learn so at a…

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How to Improve Your Product Development Process

Members of LEI's Lean Product and Process Development Learning Group share their successful strategies.

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Remembering Freddy Ballé

On October 31st, the Lean Movement lost one of its pioneers. In this piece, Dan Jones reflects on Freddy Ballé’s legacy.

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Remembering Freddy Balle

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Whatever Happened to Quality First: Rethinking Product Development in the Wake of Recalls and Catastrophic Failures

This Design Brief tackles the often-overlooked topic of building quality into new products. Learn how a customer-centric approach in development can prevent costly rework and…

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2024 Lean Summit Recap

LEI's Lean Summit showcased how leaders leverage lean for innovation from AI-powered healthcare to US manufacturing's revival.

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The Role of a Chief Engineer in Vehicle Development: A Case Study of the 2019 Honda Passport

What does it take to bring a new vehicle to market? Lara Harrington, Chief Engineer for the 2019 Honda Passport, shares the secrets behind the…

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Introduction to Daily Management to Execute Strategy 

Editor's note: The following is the complete introduction to Daily Management to Execute Strategy.

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