Case Study

Lean Thinking Helps City of Chula Vista with Budget Crunch

After laying off 350 employees and still facing a continuing budget shortfall, the City of Chula Vista, CA, faced a seemingly impossible dilemma: how to…

by Doug Bartholomew

Case Study

Toyota Partners with Nonprofit to Rebuild Homes and Lives

When the flood waters of Hurricane Katrina receded, they uncovered tens of thousands of ruined homes in devastated areas like St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana. But…

by Chet Marchwinski

Article

Why We Believe Micromanagement is Worth A Deeper Conversation

The Lean Sensei Women explore how poorly-focused micromanagement destroys trust--while well-placed micromanagement supports Lean fundamentals and delivers exceptional results.

by Lean Sensei Women

Article

Lean-n-Food: Reimagining an Industry in Crisis

What is a restaurant in the post-pandemic world? LEI's Karen Gaudet and Josh Howell are exploring this and other questions with an international group of industry…

by Karen Gaudet and Josh Howell

Article

Develop Your People Patiently Rather Than Rely on Super Taylorism

Lean starts with quality, argue the authors, who note that by worrying about and improving quality, we are also reducing both the cost of our…

Article

How to Engage Everyone to Create a “Continuous Innovation Machine”

In a presentation to hundreds of engineers at a Fortune 100 manufacturer, Jim Morgan, an engineering PhD and former product development executive, explained what distinguishes…

by James Morgan, PhD

Article

Let's Celebrate Work

Is your work meaningful or menial? LEI Senior Advisor John Shook challenges us to aim to make all work meaningful by building our businesses based…

by John Shook

Article

Implementing Lean Accounting in a Publicly Traded Company

Learn how this multi-plant, multinational publicly traded company in the packaging industry embarked on its lean accounting transformation journey. Then, watch for more articles in…

Article

Why A3 Thinking is the Ideal Problem-Solving Method

How A3 Thinking helps you overcome the most challenging yet vital part of problem-solving, according to Lean Coach David Verble.

by David Verble

Article

Why We Believe Questions Accelerate Learning

The key to achieving better outcomes over time is to develop the vital skill of asking questions designed to spur critical thinking, argue the Lean…

by Lean Sensei Women

Case Study

Lean Transformation Lives and Dies With Tools and Dies

The story of The Wiremold Company's lean transformation is familiar to many Lean Thinkers. But what isn't as well known is how the company transformed…

Case Study

Build Your “House” of Production on a Stable Foundation

Faced with downtime on key pieces of sophisticated equipment in a machine-intensive environment, Delphi's Plant 1 launched a successful improvement effort by focusing on rigorous…

Case Study

New Facility, New Flow, and New Levels of Patient Care The wait is over for patients at the Clearview Cancer Institute in Alabama

Dr. Marshall Schreeder treats cancer and treatment processes at the Clearview Cancer Institute in Alabama.

Case Study

Making Lean Leaders -- Ariens Internship Program Develops Lean Management and Leadership Skills in Everyone

Besides making snow-blowers, mowers, and string trimmers, Ariens Co., of Brillion, WI, makes lean leaders. An internal lean internship program steeps factory and front-office associates…

Article

Want A Problem Solving Culture? Try Leading From the Middle

I spent fifteen years working with Toyota in North American and Japan, and discovered first-hand one of the most powerful aspects of the company’s core…

Article

Lean Management Benefits Delayed at Airlines and Aerospace Companies by Traditional Management Practices

Lean manufacturing tools such as 5S, kaizen, and kanban are common in aerospace shops and offices, but their effect is hamstrung by the existing modern…

Article

Tools Are Not the Purpose

Coach Eric Ethington shares his experience about learning how A3 thinking must always be the guiding principle when using A3 (and related) tools

Article

Summit Highlights: Healthcare Value Network and Bahri Dental Group Bring Lean Into Healthcare

A recap of two talks at the 2012 Lean Transformation Summit: Dr. John Toussaint's talk on the work of the Healthcare Value Network and lean's…

by Lex Schroeder

Article

Translating Collaborative Learning Into Practice

What does collaborative learning mean for lean thinkers in practice, on a day-to-day basis? In his final talk at the 2012 Lean Transformation Summit, John…

by Lex Schroeder

Article

Lean in Sales and Marketing -- Addressing a Market Need: An Interview with Brent Wahba

A specialist in lean and problem-solving strategies and techniques, Brent Wahba is the author of  The Fluff Cycle(And How to End it By Solving REAL…