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

Emerging Stronger

Learn how GE Appliances and Herman Miller leverage lean practice to design new standardized work for assembly to ensure a safe working environment for employees.

by John Shook

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

Which is best for a lean environment, a U-shaped cell or assembly line? Why?

Dear Gemba Coach: Which is best for a lean environment, a U-shaped cell or assembly line? Why?

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

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

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

You can do a lot by doing a few things

"Developing a good strategy and actually executing it is really hard," writes Leslie Barker. "What I didn’t fully realize was how powerful just a little…

by Leslie Barker

Article

The Lean Dentist Webinar Follow-Up Questions & Answers

After reviewing all the questions that we couldn’t get to during the webinar with Dr. Sami Bahri, several key themes emerged, such as lean leadership…

by Sami Bahri

Article

How Come Toyota Veterans Don’t Use a Roadmap?

Dear Gemba Coach: Recently I spent a few months working with Toyota veterans at an automotive supplier. I was surprised at their approach. I expected…

by Michael Ballé

Article

Standardize Your Problem-Solving Approach? Why One Size Does Not Fit All

Lean management practitioners know what a powerful tool standardization is for continuously improving processes. Without standards, there can be no improvement as the old saying…

by Art Smalley

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

Reflections From Ten Years of Michael Ballé's Gemba Coach

Since his first Gemba Coach column of ten years ago, Michael Balle has consistently tied his advice to a faithful application of core Toyota Production…

by Tom Ehrenfeld

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

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

Why We Believe that Lean is About Changing Our Own Behaviors, and Not Just Accumulating New Knowledge

Lean repeatedly pushes us to develop new competences (or recover lost know-hows) through kaizen and problem solving. This collection of short articles from seven leading…

by Lean Sensei Women

Case Study

Leveraging Lean to Get the Oil Out

Aera Energy LLC, a California oil and gas company, relies on lean principles to improve key processes, including drilling new wells, repairing existing ones, and…

by Doug Bartholomew

Article

Five Missing Pieces in Your Standardized Work (Part 2 of 3)

John Shook delves more deeply into two of the five most often neglected elements, demonstrating the importance of practice and the role of the leader,…

by John Shook

Article

Why We Believe A Strong Customer Focus Is Needed To Drive A Lean Strategy

Is there any principle more core to the heart of lean than relentlessly focusing on the customer? In this collection of thoughts on the topic,…

by Lean Sensei Women

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