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What 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…
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Lean 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 article Thinking End to End
Every value stream runs from raw materials all the way to the end customer. And value for the customer is…
Read article Isao 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 article Mura, 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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Purpose, Process, People
When evaluating your lean efforts, Jim Womack suggests that you examine your purpose first of all, and then your process…
Read article Fewer Heroes, More Farmers
I recently met with the chief executive of a very large American corporation organized by business units, each self-contained with…
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Best in Healthcare Getting Better with Lean
The Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN., is famous for the quality of its healthcare, but is using lean concepts to…
View case study What Lean Thinkers Think About The Gold Mine
Questions and comments†from readers to co-author Michael BallÈ about his book The Gold Mine.
Read article Leaning Healthcare
Healthcare is the next great industry to begin the Lean journey. The existing model in which the hospital doctor acting…
Read article Columbus Public Schools Use Process Thinking to Improve Academic Achievement
Principals and staff at Columbus, Ohio, schools created current states and future states of a diagnostic testing process in order to identify students'…
Read article More Lean Leadership
In the nine years since its founding, LEI has acheived quite a lot. We've produced highly successful series of workbooks…
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