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 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

Case Study

Standardized Work Hangs Ten with San Diego’s Surfing Culture -- Meeting the Challenges of Leadership, Culture, and Resistance

Instead of wiping out with a Southern California surfing school, the lean management principle of standardized had a positive impact, helping it boost surfing time…

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Lean Leap by Auto Supplier Gets Boost from Leaping Figure Skaters

As part of its lean transformation, a Nexteer Automotive plant in Saginaw, MI, is using video and motion analysis software developed for athletes to improve…

Case Study

Landscape Forms Cultivates Lean to Fuel Growth Goals

With single-item orders 80% of the time, adopting single-piece flow and cellular production made sense to management at Landscape Forms, a low-volume, high-mix producer of…

Article

Embracing Standard Work in Lean Accounting: An Interview with Mark DeLuzio

How standard work catalyzes continuous improvement in lean accounting and finance -- and any other work area.

Article

Dentist Drills Down to the Root Causes of Office Waste

Applying lean concepts to dentistry isn't as difficult as, well, pulling teeth. Dr. Sami Bahri, driven by a gut feeling that the traditional method of…

by Chet Marchwinski

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

Article

6 Guidelines for Moving Toward a Lean Value Stream

Once you’re ready to use value-stream mapping to continuously improve your value streams, follow this advice from the authors of Learning to See, the workbook…

by Mike Rother and John Shook

Video

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways – on a Valentine’s Day A3

The question lean practitioners Tracy and Ernie Richardson get more than any other isn’t about problem-solving, takt time, standardization, or their book. It’s about their…

by Ernie Richardson and Tracey Richardson

Article

Share Best Thinking Rather than Best Practices

Lean Coach Karen Gaudet argues that Best Practices don't always align with Best Thinking, and suggests that "the next time you find yourself sharing a…

by Karen Gaudet

Article

It's the Productivity, Not the People

In one memorable lean project, Craig Stritar found himself on a large fish-processing vessel in the Bering Sea that was plagued by poor productivity levels.…

by Craig Stritar

Article

The Cascade of Hoshin

A recent gemba walk at a Toyota plant reveals how the company operationalizes its hoshin plan — in this case, to win the auto industry's…

by James (Jim) Womack, PhD