Article

Should I Use Lean for Headcount Reduction?

Dear Gemba Coach: My company wants to reduce its fixed costs. And as part of this my management has asked me to apply the lean…

by Michael Ballé

Article

Why it’s Better to Focus on Value, Not Waste

Learn the benefits of shifting your focus from eliminating waste to increasing value, along with two of the best value-creating opportunities, according to LEI Senior…

by Katrina Appell, PhD

Case Study

Transforming Healthcare: What Matters Most? How the Cleveland Clinic Is Cultivating a Problem-Solving Mindset and Building a Culture of Improvement

Imagine if you could create a culture of excellence and improvement in a large healthcare organization. That’s the challenge that pushed the Cleveland Clinic to…

by David Drickhamer

Article

Planning the Purposeful Turnaround

The capability to repurpose, and then to redesign and retool, is critically important in these challenging times, says Josh Howell, who adds: I hope you…

by Josh Howell

Article

Show Respect by Exploring Problems With Your Workers

I trust that all of us want to show respect for people, writes Jim Womack, adding: The challenge for those of us in the Lean…

by James (Jim) Womack, PhD

Article

Strategy Deployment In Action: One Executive's Perspective - Follow up Q & A

Webinar presenters David Brule and Pascal Dennis answer questions from their webinar about strategy deployment on March 12, 2009.

Video

Highlighting 100 Years of Innovation in the Work

Comparing Ford’s 1914 and Toyota’s 2012 assembly lines demonstrates how improving work processes is the cornerstone of lean.

Article

Bringing Lean to Your Sales Team

LEI faculty member Brent Wahba discusses the importance of bringing lean into your sales department as well as where to start.

Article

3 Lessons Maersk Learned from Adopting Hoshin Kanri

Deploying hoshin kanri at Maersk was challenging, recounts Agne Nainyte, who shares the details of this work that helped the organization shift from firefighting to…

by Agne Nainyte

Article

Who, or What, Is Your Company Investing In?

A frontline supervisor's stellar work resolving a significant problem prompts a question for leaders: Will you have technology work for your people or the other…

by Josh Howell

Article

Understanding the 4S Help Chain, Part 1: Lessons from NUMMI on How to Manage Work Disruptions

What are the four critical characteristics of an effective help chain? Matt Zayko, a technical coach for LEI's Lean Product and Process Development team, explains.

by and Matt Zayko

Article

Ask Art: Why Switch from Batch to Lean?

Switching from batch production to a complete lean enterprise produces benefits far beyond immediate financial results, argues Art Byrne. Read this for details on your…

by Art Byrne

Article

Dear Professor, Am I Ever Glad You Covered Lean in Class!

Since 2008, the Lean Enterprise Institute has sponsored the Excellence in Lean Accounting Award to fund scholarships helping pairs of students and professors attend the…

by Chet Marchwinski

Article

Dealing with Standard Costing in Lean Organizations

If you are in the accounting department in a lean manufacturing company, and your company uses a standard costing system, it is inevitable that the…

Video

How Lean Thinking and Practice, Grounded in Purpose, Helped Drive Amazon’s Success

Marc Onetto shares his experiences in Amazon, underlining the importance of a customer-driven approach in times of heavy demand and production.

by Lean Leaper

Article

How to Make Your Supplier Your Lean Partner

Lean practitioner Randy Dobbs says working with suppliers to improve the extended value stream of his company has been one of the most rewarding aspects…

by Randy J. Dobbs

Article

Ask Art: What Do You Look At in a "Pre-lean" Company?

Art Byrne identifies factors such as excess inventory and floor space, long turnaround times, and numerous other elements to study when considering the long-term value…

by Art Byrne

Article

How to Wipe Out IT’s “Technical Debt” with PDCA

Besides bonds, bank loans, and other types of corporate debt, your company also holds "technical debt," the burden of future IT rework caused by superficially…

by Mike Orzen

Article

Finding a Countermeasure to the Great Resignation in Making Jobs Better

Watching an associate improve his work process prompts some ideas on how to attract and retain employees who are at risk of quitting.

by Matthew Savas

Article

Ask Art: How Do You Motivate Managers to Adopt Lean?

Leading an enterprise-wide lean transformation requires everyone at every level to adopt new approaches to their work. Here are some tried-and-true strategies that leaders can…

by Art Byrne