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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, says Renee Smith; but what…

by Renée Smith

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Lean Transformation Starts with a Learning Culture

After attending a Lean Applied to Sales seminar, Tina Roach and Pete Mangan of ProMed Molded Products knew they needed to re-think the way they…

by Pete Mangan and Tina Roach

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SBP Has a Helping Hand in Hurricane Harvey

Learn how SBP (formerly Saint Bernard Project) is using lean to help victims of Hurricane Harvey and other natural disasters -- plus what you can…

by Zack Rosenburg

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Ask Art: Why do so few companies that implement lean do it successfully?

We've all heard the stories of failed lean implementations, as well as the hotly debated question of "Why did it fail?" In his many years…

by Art Byrne

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Ask Art: Why Does Boosting Inventory Turns Matter So Much?

If you want to deliver more value to our customers such that you can grow and gain market share then you should certainly focus on…

by Art Byrne

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How Does LPPD Help Create a Lean Enterprise?

What is LPPD? As noted by Jim Morgan LPPD is a set of principles and practices that promote collaboration, transparency, and rapid learning, in the…

by Lean Leaper

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Toyota the Disrupter

Toyota may not be the first company you think of for disruptive product and process development, but perhaps they should be, argues Jim Morgan. The…

by James Morgan, PhD

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5 Missing Pieces in Your Standardized Work (Part 1 of 3)

John Shook offers an overview of the five most frequent misunderstandings about this fundamental lean practice and expands on three of them.

by John Shook

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Put the 'i' Before the Apple

Apple is a company with a reputation for keeping its customers' needs at the forefront of its product development decisions. But according to Boaz Tamir…

by Boaz Tamir

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Succeeding by Failing

People often wonder what exactly constitutes "success" in a lean journey - it's a longstanding question. Cam Ford has a different thought entirely. Inspired by…

by Cameron Ford

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Now What Do We Call the Karaoke Bar?

We asked the lean community to sound off on whether or not they favored using Japanese terms in their lean transformations. The results were interesting…

by Chet Marchwinski

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Lean Principles Are Changing How the U.S. Recovers from Tornadoes & Floods

When the flood waters of Hurricane Katrina receded, they uncovered tens of thousands of homes in devastated areas such as St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana, that…

by Chet Marchwinski and Zack Rosenburg

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Why Lean Remains a Superior Business Model and Way of Thinking

The lean business model offers an alternative to conventional thinking that enables organizations to gain a competitive advantage by being better than competitors at meeting…

by Dan Jones

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Striking With The Zen Stick

A key part of lean coaching is the practice of striking with a zen stick, says Dan Prock. This helps break people out of their…

by Dan Prock

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Thinking Outside the Pyramid

Machiavelli said it's better to be feared than loved. Lean practitioner Daniel Fisher rejects this idea and argues it’s better to respect people and be…

by Daniel Fisher

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Tesla vs. TPS: Seeking the Soul in the New Machine

While Tesla has excited customers and drawn praise for innovative design and bold thinking, author Jeff Liker believes that it faces tough challenges in its…

by Jeffrey Liker

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Why Coaching is the Hardest Job I've Ever Had

"In 2011 a new term entered my company... we went 'lean'," writes Kasey Corbishley. "The office buzzed with anxiety as whiteboards were erected, and the…

by Kasey Corbishley

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Making Things Better - Visual Value in Health Information Management

Have you ever struggled to make "invisible work" visual for your leadership? Laura Shue of the University of Michigan Health System certainly has - two…

by Laura Shue

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Monozukuri Through Hitozukuri

Michael Ballé reflects on what it really means to "make people before parts" and introduces two more lean terms that just so happen to be…

by Michael Ballé

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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…