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Sell One, Buy One, Make One: Transforming from Conventional to Lean Distribution
Big batches. Long lead times. Infrequent deliveries. Large inventories to cover fluctuations in demand. These aren't characteristics normally attributed to…
View case studyFrom Lean Tools to Lean Management
I’ve been thinking about the challenge of lean transformation for 27 years now, since I started studying Toyota as part…
Read articleGross Domestic Product Verses Gross Domestic Waste
I’ve always been fascinated by how humans count, especially the way we always seem to count the wrong things. Recently…
Read articleExample A3: Textron – Lean Boot Camp (from Managing to Learn)
An example of an A3, included as a sample in some printings of Managing to Learn.
Read articleThe Value Stream Manager
Objectives of This Paper:The Lean Enterprise Institute receives many questions about how to select the right person to be the value-stream manager. In…
Read articleThe Lean Way Forward at Ford
I’ve been reflecting on today’s remarkable headlines about the latest retreat by the Ford Motor Company as part of its…
Read articleWhat is the Theory of Constraints, and How Does it Compare to Lean Thinking?
The following article reviews the Theory of Constraints (TOC), first published in The Goal by Eliyahu M. Goldratt and Jeff…
Read articleLean Thinking: A Look Back and a Look Forward
The meaning of lean thinking, how lean got its name, and an example of how it improved a grinding process…
Read articleThinking End to End
Every value stream runs from raw materials all the way to the end customer. And value for the customer is…
Read articleIsao 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…
Read articleMura, Muri, Muda?
Twenty years ago this month, when my first daughter was born, the young men I supervised in MIT’s International Motor…
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