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LPPD Under the Sea: Efficient Product Design with Subsea 2.0

In this excerpt from the new book Designing the Future, authors Jim Morgan and Jeff Liker share the case study of TechnipFMC's work on a…

by Jeffrey Liker and James Morgan, PhD

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Understanding the True Cost of Care

"Today, frontline clinicians are being asked to provide even more cost-efficient care to patients yet few understand how to do so," writes Jordan Harmon of…

by Jordan Harmon

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Adopt or Adapt? When Modifying Lean Makes Sense

One of the key decisions every lean coach, consultant, practitioner, and leader makes is when to fully adopt a particular lean practice or when to…

by Karen Martin

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The Angry Team Member and the Changing Organization

Toyota veteran and lean coach Lesa Nichols reflects on one of the most challenging and ultimately rewarding conversations she had with a team member.

by Lesa Nichols

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Bridging Two Lean Communities

Two very different lean communities came together when Eric Ries and LEI's John Shook participated in the Lean Startup pre-conference webcast, "Putting the Lean in…

by Lex Schroeder

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Why Leadership and "Respect" Are Fundamentally Entwined

Hear the word "respect" and most of us can think of a time we've wanted our boss, team member, or employee to "be more respectful."…

by Michael Ballé

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Doing Versus Being – How Mindfulness Supports Better Lean Thinking, Part 2

Most companies don’t get the desired results from lean transformations, according to Mike Orzen, lean practitioner and LEI faculty member. Their people get stuck in…

by Mike Orzen

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Leaning Up Baby

Olivia Talman, a former intern at The Lean Enterprise Institute, knew problem-solving was important, but wasn't sold on Lean at first. In her first piece…

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How do you protect jobs while reducing lines and shifts?

Dear Gemba Coach: How do you protect jobs while reducing lines and shifts?

by Michael Ballé

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Why Is It So Hard To Sustain Lean Gains?

Dear Gemba Coach: Why is it so hard to sustain lean gains?

by Michael Ballé

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Can lean go wrong?

Dear Gemba Coach: Can lean go wrong? Can the ideas be misused and can the outcome be bad for the company? Is there any way…

by Michael Ballé

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What is your opinion about transformation process steps?

Dear Gemba Coach: What is your opinion about transformation process steps? First we choose a problem and start problem-solving processes (A3 or 8-step methods) and…

by Michael Ballé

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Can creative people, like product developers, follow such a structured method such as lean?

Dear Gemba Coach: For product development you need creative (maybe even chaotic) people. Are those people suited to follow such a structured method as lean?…

by Michael Ballé

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Which is best for a lean environment, a U-shaped cell or assembly line? Why?

Dear Gemba Coach: Which is best for a lean environment, a U-shaped cell or assembly line? Why?

by Michael Ballé

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How do we get our boss to stop confusing inventory management with lean?

Dear Gemba Coach: Our new boss is a lean supporter and had us reduce drastically all inventories. Now we have missing parts all over the…

by Michael Ballé

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Leveling to Build Capacity and Flexibility

Dear Gemba Coach: We manufacture a seasonal product and are working on leveling, but are having a tough time. Our peak sales occur in a four-month…

by Michael Ballé

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Lean and Forecasting

Dear Gemba Coach: I’m in charge of the forecasting department in my company. My colleagues in production have been doing lean for several years and…

by Michael Ballé

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How do I know people are displaying the right visual information in an office?

Dear Gemba Coach: We’ve been quite successful with lean in our operations, and I’ve been tasked to bring it to headquarters. We’ve set up obeyas…

by Michael Ballé

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What do you mean by developing people?

Dear Gemba Coach: What do you mean by developing people?

by Michael Ballé

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Are Design Thinking and Lean Thinking the Same?

Dear Gemba Coach: As a practitioner and advocate of design thinking, I’ve been curious about lean, but it seems to me we’re talking about the…

by Michael Ballé