Article

Lean Business-IT Integration, Part One: Who Wants to Go Talk to IT About This One?

In this, the first of a five part series, LEI faculty member Steve Bell begins with the importance of lean business-IT integration. Part Two offers…

Article

Can Hospitals Reap the Deeper Benefits of Lean?

Dear Gemba Coach: As Health Systems globally wrestle with skyrocketing healthcare costs, many hospitals are jumping on the lean bandwagon, hoping this will be the…

by Michael Ballé

Article

Why You Need to Understand The Purpose of Purposeful Enterprise

Work with your team to articulate your purpose, as this shared statement will align the many aspects of your pragmatic lean improvement work, says Tom…

by Tom Ehrenfeld

Article

Lean Physician, Heal Thyself!

"We [need] to equip people with the right tools to address the problems they must solve," writes Phil Coy. "New software is emerging that is…

Article

Why a Plan for Every Part Is Essential to Lean Transformations

“What’s needed instead is system kaizen in which the material-handling system for an entire facility, supplying every value stream, is redesigned to create a bulletproof…

by Doug Bartholomew

Article

Change Management: Is it Necessary?

"There are varying views on the role of change management in a lean transformation," writes Katrina Appell. In her latest blog, she evaluates the opposing…

by Katrina Appell, PhD

Article

Try These Three Deliberate Practices of Lean Coaching

A lean coach doesn’t do PDCA; she or he has three deliberate practices that keep the PDCA gear rolling with a check, adjustment, new purpose…

by Dan Prock

Article

Reimagining restaurants after Covid-19

The future has never looked more uncertain for restaurants and cafes. The authors share a set of practical lean tips that can guide these organizations…

by The Lean-n-Food-Initiative

Article

Jay Johnson, president, Plumbers Supply Company

As part of a continuing series on leading lean transformations, the Lean Enterprise Institute (LEI) interviews executives from a variety of companies to explore the challenges that…

by David Drickhamer

Article

The Eight Wastes of Lean

Originally there were seven wastes identified by Taiichi Ohno for the Toyota Production System. As lean evolved into the rest of the enterprise and around…

by Jean Cunningham

Article

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 an efficiency-driven company. It’s a…

by Michael Ballé

Article

Double Loop Learning at Kongsberg Maritime

Kongsberg Maritime, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Norwegian-based Kongsberg Group, tapped into a Kyoryokukai, or network for supplier innovation, to create a space for…

by Daryl Powell and Eivind Reke

Article

Rebuilding Homes and Disaster Recovery Processes

When Liz McCartney and Zack Rosenburg left their careers to help desperate victims of Hurricane Katrina rebuild, they knew nothing about construction or lean management.…

by Zack Rosenburg

Article

The Escalator of Issues

A daily management system with daily performance metrics gives caregivers the sense that managers are really paying attention, that problems really are being addressed, and…

by James (Jim) Womack, PhD

Case Study

LSG Sky Chefs Caters to New Market Realities

Business at airline caterer LSG Sky Chefs dropped 30% when airlines cut flights after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Sky Chefs responded with a…

by Chet Marchwinski

Article

What is Lean Leadership and How Do You Get it?

Jeff Liker, author of The Toyota Way, describes what organizations need to do to develop their leaders' lean leadership capabilities.

by Jeffrey Liker

Article

4Ps Prove Lean Applies Everywhere

Trainer Tracey Richardson explains how four deep principles reveal how lean thinking applies to any organization. 

Podcast

Diving Deeper into the Toyota Way: A Podcast with Jeff Liker

Professor Jeff Liker discusses the new, second edition of his classic book The Toyota Way on WLEI, the LEI podcast.

by Jeffrey Liker

Article

Are computer screens okay for visual management?

Dear Gemba Coach: Can I use computer screens for visual management or is that a big no-no?

by Michael Ballé

Article

Dentist Drills Down to the Root Causes of Office Waste

Applying lean concepts to dentistry isn't as difficult as, well, pulling teeth. Dr. Sami Bahri, driven by a gut feeling that the traditional method of…

by Chet Marchwinski