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I fail to see the difference between hoshin kanri and the strategic planning we used to do. What am I missing?
Dear Gemba Cocah: My boss has hired a consultant to take us through the Hoshin Kanri process. So far, I fail to see the difference…
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We struggle to set target conditions. Is there a system to do so?
Dear Gemba Coach: We work with Toyota Kata, which we find very helpful, but we struggle to set target conditions. Is there a system to…
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Ask Art: Is there a formula to predict or evaluate the success of a lean implementation?
Art Byrne is often asked how to best measure the success of a lean transformation -- but does such a measurement even exist? He's been…
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Becoming My Own Gemba
Like me, thousands of people suffer from undiagnosed or more complex medical conditions that mimic other conditions. And my TPS training in a way of…
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3 Common Problems in Government that A3 Thinking Can Help Solve
I’m always surprised at how little the public sector uses A3 thinking to tackle their toughest challenges. It’s the same thing every time – the…
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Thinking About the Why of the What of Problem-Solving
When we talk about problem-solving, what we’re really talking about here is creating adaptive capacity, the deep capability of an organization to tackle anything that…
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Two managers I relied on a lot are still fighting a two-year-old pull system and creating a lot of conflict on the team. Is this normal?
Dear Gemba Coach: I’m two years into establishing a pull system through my plant and two of my key managers are still fighting the system…
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In Lean We Trust; Especially in a Crisis
When phone calls and cancellations started coming in, the COVID-19 crisis became more than a news report about somewhere else. We knew we had our own situation to deal with.
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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…
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Four Types of Problems (Introduction)
An excerpt from Four Types of Problems IntroductionThe four types of problems are:Type 1: Troubleshooting: Reactive problem solving that hinges upon quick response and dealing with immediate…
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We’re all connected and nobody is in charge
Everyone hates the “matrix”. Not the movie series, of course, but the cross-functional matrix organization. Yet, having searched for the past 15 years, I have…
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Accounting for the Right Reasons
My first job after graduating from Purdue University was as a manufacturing engineer with the Japanese company, Aisin Seiki. Aisin U.S.A. was in the process…
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How does lean fit together with Lean Startup concepts?
Dear Gemba Coach: I work in IT and discovered lean through the Lean Startup movement. Now, as I read more about it, I find that…
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Should I pursue waste elimination or lead-time reduction?
Dear Gemba Coach: We’re having a heated debate in our company over whether to pursue cost reduction through waste elimination by accelerating kaizen events, or whether…
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How Pall Corporation Accelerated the Covid-19 Vaccine Process Development using Lean Thinking and Practice
Learn how Pall Corp developed and deployed a full manufacturing process in eight weeks – an 80% reduction compared to typical development times.
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Should we have our own TPS "house"?
Dear Gemba Coach: My management wants to build our own version of the TPS (Toyota Production System) house in order to standardize our lean approach.…
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How Can I Convince My CFO?
Dear Gemba Coach: Is there a way to put a dollar value (cost savings) on these types of improvements? We have trouble gaining CFO support…
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What Problems Are Lean Practices? Part 1 of 2
Dear Gemba Coach: I keep reading that lean is about solving problems. But that's exactly what I already do in my job. So how is lean…
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Adding Cost or Creating Value?
I was out on tour this past week, listening to companies' stories as they try to achieve a "lean" transformation. And I was struck, as…
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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…
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