Article
Overcoming Challenges with Lean Thinking Leads to Record-breaking Performance
Despite obstacles, a new CEO transformed a manufacturing business from plant floor production to design engineering — and created a learning organization with a relentless…
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Case Study
Change in Implementation Approach Opens the Door at EMCO to Greater Gains in Less Time
Many lean thinkers ask how they can accelerate the pace of a transformation or spread it to other facilities. EMCO Enterprise’s Des Moines plant has…
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Article
Leadership Q&A: Dan Ariens, CEO of Ariens Co.
From the LEI senior executive series on lean leadership:In the late 1990s, Ariens Co.faced a blizzard of problems. The iconic maker of snow blowers, mowers,…
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Article
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 to reduce the costs of…
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Are Lean Managers Teaching Or Just Controlling?
Dear Gemba Coach: I hear what you lean guys are saying about, learning, “kata” and the role of managers as teachers. But in my years…
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Gemba-Based Leadership – Not Just for Chief Engineers
John Shook on gemba-based leadership
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View from the Hospital Floor: How to Build a Culture of Improvement One Unit at a Time
In this follow-up to our earlier case study "Transforming Healthcare: What Matters Most?", we examine how the Cleveland Clinic is accelerating a lean transformation with…
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Value-Stream Mapping at FAA Office Improves Information Flow
Lean management principles and tools originated on the shop floor to improve manufacturing processes but in its first value-stream mapping project, a regional office of…
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Standards vs. Standardization
Dear Gemba Coach: We’re often told that “there can be no kaizen without standards.” But when do you start when there are no standards? How do…
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How Can I Address the Conflict that Lean Creates?
Dear Gemba Coach, I have just finished reading The Lean Manager, and I was very taken by the chapter on teamwork. I am a lean…
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What does developing people mean?
Dear Gemba Coach,Are people tools? Should bosses use people? What does development mean? How should we think about it?
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What Is Information Waste?
Excess information — in our inboxes, hard drives, shared drives, intranet sites, data warehouses, etc., — is waste. This unnecessary "inventory" causes congestion, delays, inefficiency,…
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Tending the Roots of Lean with Lean Farmer Ben Hartman
Matt Savas shares the Lean roots found at Ben Hartman's Clay Bottom Farm in Goshen, Indiana, illustrating the many ways that lean has eliminated waste
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Article
How Do I Address Resistance From Middle Management?
Dear Gemba Coach: Why does middle management resist lean transformations; how can they be brought on board?
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Lean Roundup: Jidoka
"Jidoka captures the principle of building quality into the production process—of designing work so that the people making the product have the means and mindset…
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Article
Ask Art: How Can I Engage All Our Leaders to Learn and Teach Lean?
What's the best way to teach lean to your internal leaders? By forming teams who will learn by doing, shares Art Byrne. This will drive…
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Article
How do we mid-level managers convince the CEO and senior management that adopting lean practices is worthwhile?
Dear Gemba Coach: The recent webinar on the business case for lean was particularly useful for us because it raised many questions and provided a…
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Why do you keep referring to Toyota; does it still matter?
Dear Gemba Coach: I’m very interested in lean, but fail to see why you guys keep referring to Toyota. What does a Toyota plant look like…
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Why We Believe People-Free Plants and Services Prevent Learning
We (Lean Sensei Women) are a group of women from different continents, horizons, and professions who share a commitment to the development of people. We…
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Article
Problem? What Problem?
"Whether using A3s, the 5 Whys, DMAIC, Value Stream Mapping, or any other problem-solving methodology, many organizations don’t spend the effort necessary to prove all…
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