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The Ingredients of Lean
Lean practitioner Steve Brenneman finds shared values in his Mennonite faith and his lean practice: a strong set of values…
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What Do Managers Do?
After walking the gemba with sensei Hideshi Yokoi, Matt Savas learned three basic agreements between workers and management, and shared…
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Ask Art: Why Focus on Why When Doing A Lean Turnaround?
In switching to lean, understanding the WHY is the most important thing, argues Art Byrne. It helps people overcome their…
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What’s different about implementing lean in a low-volume, high-variety environment?
Dear Gemba Coach: I manage a plant that makes highly engineered, low-volume products. What do I have to do differently…
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Lean Is A Product-Driven Strategy
What is at the core of lean? Michael Balle argues, in terms of our best known example: "Toyota is not…
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How Standardized Work Integrates People with Process
In this three-part series, John Shook argues that "the Toyota Way is a socio-technical system on steroids" that brings together…
Read article If lean is valid in all situations doesn’t that make it an ideology?
Dear Gemba Coach: Is lean really valid in all situations? That sounds like ideology to me!
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“But TPS Doesn’t Apply to Us….”
Yes, cars are not weaving looms. Patients are not cars, either. Airplanes are not cars. Electric vehicles are not the…
Read article How do I practice lean when I don’t feel a strong attachment to my knowledge worker team?
Dear Gemba Coach: How do I practice lean consistently when I don't feel a strong attachment to my team? We…
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Kanban As A Learning Strategy
Toyota’s Kanban legacy—and its underlying ideas—have far more direct lineage with today’s digital economy than most folks realize; and capture…
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Designed In Quality
Extraordinary quality is not only designed into the product, it is designed into the development process itself, says Jim Morgan,…
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Can Smart Manufacturing Replace the Art of Go and See?
Continuous improvement in a manufacturing environment has to happen at the spot where the work took place, shares Dave Westphal,…
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