Article

How to Build Resilience Through Sustained Lean Practice

As the upcoming virtual lean learning experience shows, lean thrives when the individuals using this learning and improvement method leverage its power for long term…

by Lean Leaper

Article

What Finance Teams Can Learn from the Lean Practice of ‘Go See, Ask Why, Show Respect,’ - Part 2

A "lean accounting" coach illustrates what "go see, ask why, and show respect" means for Finance and Accounting professionals.

Article

Levelled Production: Why Do It?

Ian Glenday explains how levelled production and "economies of repetition" make way not just for stability, but improved business performance.

by Ian Glenday

Article

5S - The Way to Start Your Lean Journey…or Is It?

Many people think that a 5S implementation is the perfect way to kickstart a full lean transformation. It can be - IF you do it…

by Dale Savage

Article

Looking Back and Ahead at The Lean Transformation Summit

Read the highlights from the 2014 Lean Transformation Summit in Orlando (featuring transformation stories from companies like GE, Cardinal Health, and Food Bank For New…

by Chet Marchwinski

Article

Can a manufacturer use lean management to advance its environmental and social sustainability strategy?

Dear Gemba Coach: Can a manufacturer use lean to advance its environmental and social sustainability strategy?

by Michael Ballé

Article

How can I keep our lean management effort from becoming bureaucratic?

Dear Gemba Coach: Isn’t there a risk that all these lean tools in the workplace turn into yet more bureaucracy?

by Michael Ballé

Article

A Lean Dream…

…wouldn’t it be great to see some lean Practical Problem Solving brought to the Detroit 3 “bailout” debate in Washington? Asking simply: What is the…

by John Shook

Article

Why don’t middle managers practice A3 thinking?

Dear Gemba Coach: I’m a lean consultant, and have been hired by a large service organization to develop an A3 problem solving training program for…

by Michael Ballé

Article

Public Service: Lean's Next Frontier?

John O'Donnell and Lex Schroeder share the thinking behind LEI's new Public Service Value Network and invite you to contribute to a new and fast-growing…

by Lex Schroeder

Article

But when should we use design thinking or lean thinking?

Dear Gemba Coach: I read your latest and very interesting Gemba Coach column comparing design thinking and lean thinking. But when should we use each?

by Michael Ballé

Article

Beyond Lean: Towards Compression Thinking

"Lean thinkers make things better by framing issues as Problems," writes Doc Hall. "Yet today our great challenges transcend corporate Problems. The core Problems confronting…

by Robert W. (Doc) Hall

Article

Lean Thinking: A Roundup

In honor of the 20th anniversary of the publishing of Lean Thinking, by Jim Womack and Dan Jones, Lean Post Senior Editor Tom Ehrenfeld presents…

by Tom Ehrenfeld

Article

The Hidden Value of Filling Out the Paperwork

Respect for people--and sustained continuous improvement--begins with something as simple as carefully filling out the paperwork for standardized work, says Josh Howell.

by Josh Howell

Article

Helpful Hints about Mapping off the Plant Floor in Support of Administrative Operations

Off the shop floor, the distinctions between material and information flows often blurs. Here are nine suggestions from LEI author John Shook for adapting the…

by John Shook

Article

Does respect for humanity mean the same as respect for people?

Dear Gemba Coach: Does respect for humanity mean the same as respect for people? I hear that the literal translation of the Japanese phrase “respect…

by Michael Ballé

Article

Gemba-Based Leadership – Not Just for Chief Engineers

John Shook on gemba-based leadership

by John Shook

Article

Following Four Steps to a Lean Material-Handling System Leads to a Leap in Performance

The Delphi Delco Electronics facility in Kokomo, IN, followed a methodical four-step implementation process to replace a traditional material-handling system for purchased parts with a…

by Chet Marchwinski

Case Study

Lean Inroads Into Alabama Academia

Despite business’s declared need for graduates experienced with lean concepts, most colleges and universities offer only a lean module or course here and there. But…

Case Study

Lean management case study series: Pediatric Hospital in Tough Market Pegs Growth to Lean Process Improvement

Lean improvement projects at Akron Children’s Hospital have saved millions of dollars, increased utilization of expensive assets, and reduced wait times for patients and their…