Article

Method vs. Tool

Dear Gemba Coach: I think that TPM, JIT, SMED, Heijunka are methods and the 5S, VSM Kaizen are tools.  Perhaps we could use the expression…

by Michael Ballé

Article

Cadence

What do the numbers 1/16, 4/04, 5/03, 5/30, 8/22, 10/23 and 12/20 have in common? They are the dates (day/month) that I sent out my…

by James (Jim) Womack, PhD

Article

Ask Art: What Foundational Items Must I Be A Zealot About?

Be a zealot on the foundational items such as 5S, visual management, and setup reduction, says Art Byrne, and your chances of succeeding with lean…

by Art Byrne

Article

How Working In Oncology Has Reframed Failure and Success

Doctor Carlos "Fred" Pinto and his colleagues at IOV in Brazil have learned that resilience emerges when applying lean thinking consistently to support better care…

by Carlos Frederico Pinto

Article

Can you help us define the role of team leader?

Dear Gemba Coach: My lean team is creating a team leader role, and we are struggling to define this function accurately, not to mention that…

by Michael Ballé

Article

How Do We Manage Our Stock to Be Lean AND Responsive to Varied Customer Demand?

Dear Gemba Coach: We’re a tier two supplier and we’re trying to implement a pull system. We’re leveling our production schedules, but our customer’s variation in…

by Michael Ballé

Article

Autoliv: Giving Power to the People

A case study looks at how Autoliv developed and sustained a lean-problem solving culture and how this global company shares best practices.

by Doug Bartholomew

Article

Ask Art: Why Are the Four Lean Fundamentals So Important for Making a Conversion to Lean?

A review of the core lean elements reveals how — and why — lean management leads to higher enterprise performance.

by Art Byrne

Article

I don’t get kanban -- I don’t work in production so how would it apply to one-off work?

Dear Gemba Coach: I feel that I still don’t get kanban. I don’t work in production, and I fail to see how stock replenishment would…

by Michael Ballé

Case Study

Herman Miller’s Experiment in Excellence

With initial support from the Toyota Supplier Support Center, Herman Miller cultivates experimental thinkers who make process improvements every day. Their work has yielded dramatic…

by David Drickhamer

Article

How Using Kanban Builds Trust

Kanban functions as a trust machine because everyone using it must understand what they have to do and why, says Michael Balle: "Our purpose here…

by Michael Ballé

Article

As CEO, how do I get my management team to support the lean effort?

Dear Gemba Coach: As a CEO, lean has enabled me to renew our company’s profitable growth, so I love it. But getting my management team…

by Michael Ballé

Article

Helpful Hints about Mapping off the Plant Floor in Support of Administrative Operations

Off the shop floor, the distinctions between material and information flows often blurs. Here are nine suggestions from LEI author John Shook for adapting the…

by John Shook

Article

TPS, the Thinking People System

The twin pillars of just-in-time and jidoka help support a full model about how to achieve customer satisfaction from employee satisfaction, through teamwork and respect,…

by Michael Ballé

Article

Ask Art: Why Should I Convert to a Pull System?

Deliver more value to your customers by converting your business to a pull system and connecting demand directly to your production system, advises Art Byrne.

by Art Byrne

Case Study

Canada Post Puts Its Stamp on a Lean Transformation

A  growing lean transformation at Canada Post's Calgary plant shows how lean principles can be implemented in environments other than manufacturing.

Article

Why We Believe that Lean is More Than A Manufacturing Approach

Is Lean thinking a thing of the past from glorious manufacturing times in the late twentieth century? Or, on the other hand, is it possible…

by Lean Sensei Women

Article

How Lean Tools Support the Principle of Respect (Part 1)

We first met Andy Ward when he was struggling to save his plant from closure in The Lean Manager. Since then he's helped lead a…

by Lean Leaper

Article

Ask Art: Why Do I Need to Switch From Batch to Flow?

Moving from batch to flow reveals the waste in your processes and simplifies your work at a systems level, says Art Byrne. It creates simplicity,…

by Art Byrne

Article

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…

by Art Smalley and Art Smalley