Article
Value Stream Maps and Battle Plans - Are They Worth Nothing?
“I’m reluctant to say maps are nothing, but there’s a difference between maps and mapping," Judy Worth says, paraphrasing Eisenhower’s insight that battle plans meant…
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Article
LEI Responds to The Wall Street Journal's Mischaracterization of Just-in-Time
LEI's response to the August 21 Wall Street Journal article that mischaracterized Just-in-TIme.
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Video
Building a Learning Organization with Kata
Baptist Memorial Hospital uses kata to build an "army of problem solvers." Here's the "meta-routine" they follow and a few results they've achieved.
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Article
Does This Man Look Efficient?
After spending two days with Jamie Bonini, Toyota Production System Support Center general manager, a BusinessWeek writer discovers he adds value just 3% of the…
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Article
The spirit of challenge
Culture will drive Toyota’s recovery from recalls and recession, according to this excerpt from Toyota Under Fire.
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'Lean' Manufacturing Takes Root in U.S.
In an overview of lean, Fox News notes that General Electric estimates it has saved up to four direct labor hours, worth about $60, off…
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Leadership Lessons from Rivian: a Clip from WLEI
In a clip from one of our most popular podcasts, LEI President Josh Howell talks with electric car manufacturer Rivian's CEO RJ Scaringe and Jim…
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Article
The Insourcing Boom
From industrial monument to memorial and then back again, the improving fortunes of GE’s huge Appliance Park plant illustrate the factors, including lean management, behind…
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Losing Patients: What Healthcare Organizations Have to Do to Survive Inevitable Changes
Writing on the Huffington Post, Beau Keyte discusses the effect that the full implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will have on…
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Top athletes and singers have coaches. Should you?
Surgeon Atul Gawande explains why he got a coach and why everyone’s work would benefit from having one.
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What's your problem
You learn through solving problems, failing, reflecting on failure, and adjusting course. That quote sounds like something from Deming or Toyota. But, no, that’s from…
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Don't Start with Tools!
Starting off your lean transformation with one of the various tools at your disposal is certainly tempting. But according to Craig Stritar and Mark Rosenthal,…
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Article
Interview: Lean Software Development
Lean software practitioners Mary and Tom Poppendieck, authors of Lean Software Development, relate lean concepts to the practical work of software development in this video…
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Rapid Growth Has Its Perils, Toyota Learns
Toyota's rapid growth from 2002 to 2010 garnered it 15% of the global auto industry, surpassing General Motors as the world’s largest carmaker, but growth may have cost…
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Accounting for the Lean Accounting Award
In this series, we talk to past winners of the Excellence in Lean Accounting Award to learn what impact the award and the scholarship it…
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Developing PDSA Capabilities
Improvement kata and A3 management have become popular ways for developing and practicing plan-do-study (or check)-act capabilities. What’s the connection between them? When do you…
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Why are there so many different opinions about what lean management is and isn't?
Dear Gemba Coach: I have attended several lean conferences and am deeply interested in the topic, but puzzled about the diversity of viewpoints. Any advice…
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What is Lean Product & Process Development (LPPD)?
This animation offers an overview of this proven approach to new product, process, and service development.
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Article
Why does visual management at a Toyota plant look so much different than at ours?
Dear Gemba Coach: We have been deploying lean visual management in my company for a while now, and I am troubled because I finally visited…
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The Bottom Line: Running hard
Lean one piece flow keeps the last shoe factories in U.S. producing athelteic shoes for New Balance. This story in the Portland (Maine) Press Herald…
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