Article

Art of Lean on Work & Waste, Part 6: Waiting

Learn how to spot what Art Smalley, president of Art of Lean, Incorporated, thinks is the most annoying form of waste.

by Art Smalley

Article

Ask Art: Why Are Leaps of Faith Involved in a Lean Turnaround?

Leaps of faith are not incidental associations with a lean turnaround; they are a basic requirement, argues lean veteran Art Byrne.

by Art Byrne

Article

Selling Water by the River

The most important challenge facing the lean community is that of sustaining both tangible and intangible improvements, says Dan Prock, who suggests that developing kaizen…

Article

How Wiremold Reinvented Itself Through Kaizen

Art Byrne shares a seminal 25-year-old article recounting how Wiremold tapped Kaizen to support a complete lean turnaround that continues to inspire and instruct people…

by Art Byrne

Case Study

Lean Transformation Lives and Dies With Tools and Dies

The story of The Wiremold Company's lean transformation is familiar to many Lean Thinkers. But what isn't as well known is how the company transformed…

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

Get On Your Sneakers and Start Conversations, Learning How to Create End-to-End Excellence

Take a (gemba) walk on the sustainable improvement side with Ingersoll Rand.

Article

“Learning from Manufacturing” Versus Learning To Think Differently

Beau Keyte talks lean thinking and practice in non-manufacturing settings. "The big challenge now isn’t to learn lean thinking the way any other company learned…

Article

Lean Warehousing and Distribution Benefits Your Company, Customers, and Supply Chain

Lean warehousing sounds like an oxymoron. But in this interview, lean practitioner and Toyota veteran David Graham explains how lean concepts apply to warehouse and…

by David Graham

Article

How Respect for People Animates the Lean Spirit

Practicing respect is an animating force of lean leadership that colors how one coaches and develops people. This roundup of articles from our archives shares…

by Tom Ehrenfeld

Article

What Problems Does The Gold Mine Challenge You to Address?

Learning begins with self-reflection, a process that can start with group reading and discussion of ideas from lean books. We are launching the LEI book…

Article

How Stalwart Lean Leadership and Classic Lean Practices Yield Operational and Clinical Excellence

Organizations can achieve the seemingly impossible when they have steadfast lean leadership, a sharp focus on purpose, and experience applying "classic" lean thinking and practice.…

by Alice Lee

Article

Lean Beyond Production

Read how Lean Thinkers, using the same lean tools that worked in production, now are making improvements and benefits off the plant floor, in environments…

Article

Follow-up Q & A to the Webinar "Integrating Leader Standard Work with Visual Management Tools”

This webinar was one of our most popular and highly rated. From among the hundreds of questions that we received during the webinar, we selected…

by Joe Murli

Article

The Impact of Social Distancing on Assembly Operations

Take a deep-dive look at how GE Appliances and Herman Miller are working on designing a safe work environment for production employees during the Covid-19…

by John Shook

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: Does Lean Really Work Everywhere?

There's a common misconception that Lean is "just some manufacturing thing." Read why Art Byrne believes Lean can be applied any and everywhere.

by Art Byrne

Article

I’m a six sigma black belt and have now been ask to do lean. I’m not sure where to start with my team. Any advice?

Dear Gemba Coach,I’m a six sigma black belt and have now been ask to do lean. I’m reading the literature and there’s a lot to…

by Michael Ballé

Article

Ask Art: I Want to Convert My Company to Lean. What Are the First Steps?

The former Wiremold CEO explains the commitment you must make— and the expectations you must set—when you start your continuous-improvement journey.

by Art Byrne

Article

Ask Art: How Useful is Six Sigma and the Black Belts and Green Belts that Come with It?

Several specific examples demonstrate why lean continuous improvement practices are usually superior to six sigma for solving problems.

by Art Byrne