Article

Achieve Your Deeper Goals Through Daily Work With Hoshin Kanri

Hoshin kanri is a living process of planning, testing ideas, adapting, and learning, says Jeff Liker, in which people work towards clear targets addressing the…

by Jeffrey Liker

Case Study

Linking Lean Thinking to the Classroom

As team members sat down to discuss hiring a new production employee, the conversation gradually centered on the need to determine if operations could be…

by Chet Marchwinski

Article

Looking at 5 Easy Steps to Simplify the A3 Process

Taking on an A3 can be daunting, and Eric Ethington is here to remind you that this is normal but preventable. He has five great…

by Eric Ethington

Article

Lean Continuous Improvement as Culture

Author David Verble shares three fundamental ways that a lean culture bases its practice of continuous improvement on the principle of respect.

Article

An interview with Gary Convis on A3 thinking and lean leadership

Lean veteran Gary Convis explains how the A3 report serves as a flexible tool that develops leaders and aligns important goals across plants, divisions, and…

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

Same Foundation, New Message: LEI Aims to Make Things Better

Same Foundation, New Message: LEI Aims to Make Things Better At the Lean Enterprise Institute (LEI), our mission for 15 years has been to advance…

by Lex Schroeder

Article

Lean Healthcare Lessons and Preparing for Change

Develop capabilities by asking the right questions

Video

Learning By Doing with Art Byrne

Art Byrne has the expertise of a lean executive and he's sharing more knowledge than ever in this clip from his most recent webinar.

by Lean Leaper

Article

Lean Roundup: How Hoshin Kanri Creates a "Line of Sight"

Like anything that is essential to lean, one must understand how hoshin kanri works from the very detailed, elemental levels of the work of the…

Article

Kata Konfusion

Author and LEI faculty member Drew Locher explains why it is important when using the kata improvement methodology to not focus solely on key performance…

by Chet Marchwinski

Article

Embracing Standard Work in Lean Accounting: An Interview with Mark DeLuzio

How standard work catalyzes continuous improvement in lean accounting and finance -- and any other work area.

by Mike De Luca

Article

Why Create Poka-yokes—and Why Disconnect Them?

I’m a manufacturing engineer and since I have started participating in kaizen workshops, I have noticed that production supervisors tend to disconnect some of the…

by Michael Ballé

Article

Isn’t PDCA enough? Why do we always need to complicate things?

Dear Gemba Coach: Isn’t PDCA enough? Why do we always need to complicate things?

by Michael Ballé

Article

Are You Creating the Right Environment?

Turner Construction is working hard to develop the "right environment" in which productive lean inquiry is baked into the working space of each situation their…

by Josh Howell

Article

Purpose, Process, People

When evaluating your lean efforts, Jim Womack suggests that you examine your purpose first of all, and then your process and then your people.

by James (Jim) Womack, PhD

Article

How Lean Thinking and Practice Helped Put Shots in Arms, Part 2: Wind-Down and Reflection

Four overarching operational lessons from the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center's successful mass vaccination experience show how lean thinking and practice helps organizations work…

by Ryan Haley, Crystal R. Tubbs and Peter Ward

Case Study

Breaking the Cycle of Ineffective Strategic Planning and Execution

Bill MacPherson, managing director of Mercer Celgar, a division of Mercer International, describes why hoshin kanri is a better approach to strategy development and execution.…

by Patricia Panchak

Article

3 Go-To Ways for Creating a Culture of Continuous Improvement Anywhere

To reach a state of endless continuous improvement, executives must lead the company in making a critical leap from management-driven improvements to employee-driven improvements, says…

by Kiyoshi "Nate" Furuta

Video

Leadership Lessons from Rivian: a Clip from WLEI

In a clip from one of our most popular podcasts, LEI President Josh Howell talks with electric car manufacturer Rivian's CEO RJ Scaringe and Jim…

by Lean Leaper