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Kaizen is Fun? Really?
Dear Gemba Coach: I have been learning lean for three years now. My question to you: How is Kaizen 'fun'? Doing…
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How Can I Address the Conflict that Lean Creates?
Dear Gemba Coach, I have just finished reading The Lean Manager, and I was very taken by the chapter on…
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Managing Suppliers
Dear Gemba Coach: We've done a lot of kaizen work in production and have something of a pull system running. We've…
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Was NUMMI a Success?
By now you know that Toyota made its much-anticipated decision to close NUMMI. Many of my friends are saddened by…
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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.…
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Signs of Progress
Dear Gemba Coach: We've been doing lean for several years now, and the program has had its ups and downs.…
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In Search of Value Stream Architects
Recently I've been spending most of my gemba time walking through value-creating processes in organizations far away from manufacturing. And…
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How Do We Reduce Costs with Lean?
Dear Gemba Coach: I have been asked to reduce the cost of a product by a significant amount. I believe…
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How Much Control Do I Need (and Need to Give Up) to Lead?
Dear Gemba Coach: I am interested in setting up a team for implementing lean. So far I have been trying…
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A3 Example from “Making Hospitals Work”
This is an example high-level planning A3 from the fictitious hospital in the book Making Hospitals Work. Click on the "read…
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You Gotta Have Wa
In July, just prior to the Major League All Star break, I introduced you to The Mental ABCs of Baseball.…
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Who To Move?
Dear Gemba Coach: "Kaizen Express" landed on my doormat this morning. While reading through I noticed that it states that if…
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