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Why do lean practitioners use so many Japanese terms?
Dear Gemba Coach: Why do we use so many Japanese terms? I guess experts really want employees and students to think…
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How Accounting “Squirrels” Can Ferret Out Waste
While other functions are busy as beavers looking for waste during a lean transformation, your accounting staff is like a…
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Ask Art: Aren’t You a Little “Old School” in Your Kaizen Approach To Implementing Lean Thinking?
When you say “kaizen is old school” you may be seriously off track, argues Art Byrne. Focusing on tools like…
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Showing Respect: Here’s How Emmanuel Proposed A More Reliable Shipping Rack
As I reflect on Emmanuel's proposed countermeasures to a key problem, I am encouraged with every new discovery, says General…
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What topics, tools, and techniques would you include in an MBA-level course on teaching lean concepts?
Dear Gemba Coach: I am designing an MBA-level course to teach lean concepts. What topics, tools, and techniques would you…
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Is Your Strategy a Plan–or a Hypothesis?
Success in a VUCA world requires senior executives to engage thoughtfully and frequently with company operations across all levels and…
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Going Beyond Low-Cost Obsession with “Women Go Beyond”
Hear the chairman and co-founder of an apparel manufacturer with global operations explain how and why it invests in its…
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Is value engineering just about cutting costs?
Dear Gemba Coach: My boss has hired a consultant to do value engineering, who has us looking for design opportunities…
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Learning to Help Anna Elevate Her Game
Anna was trained by NUMMI to identify and solve challenges via experiments with her team, notes Jeff Smith, sharing a…
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No Mani Pedi, But Keepers Improve Elephant Foot Washing
Supporting process owners includes stepping in for zoo keepers when their better idea for washing an elephant’s foot gets rejected…
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Lean Without Limits
We come up with many different types of answers that sort Lean conveniently into categories for easy understanding and storage,…
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Do standards make any sense in a creative industry?
Dear Gemba Coach,Do standards make any sense in a creative industry, such as code development?
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