Article
Seeking Radical Quality in the Tech Industry
The CTO of a website design firm explains how a recent book on radical quality improvement in manufacturing inspired him to initiate similar experiments in…
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Case Study
Meeting Strategic Objectives
Turner Construction uses hoshin kanri (strategy deployment) and A3 problem-solving to create a management system that ensures it achieves its strategic business objectives.
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Video
Art of Lean on Work & Waste, Part 4: Excess Conveyance
Hi everyone. This is Art Smalley, president of Art of Lean, Incorporated. Today, on behalf of the Lean Enterprise Institute, we’re going to do a…
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Article
Ask Art: What Is the Biggest Cultural Change Barrier to Lean?
Art Byrne tackles the biggest cultural barrier to adopting lean practices in companies: the resistance of CEOs and senior management.
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Article
Ask Art: Why Do I Need a Kaizen Promotion Office (KPO)?
A veteran lean leader explains why companies seeking to cultivate a lean culture should establish an internal team to oversee the effort and explains how…
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Article
Why ‘Framing’ is Crucial to Leadership and Encouraging Team Unity
A personal reflection of a company’s response to challenges brought on by Covid explores the fundamental thinking that drives how leaders lead — and explains…
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Article
What Matters When Giving — or Accepting — the Gift of Lean Thinking and Practice
Some “flavors” of lean are better than others. Here’s a description of one of the best — contrasted with examples of bad leadership practices.
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Article
Are You Organized for Leadership?
LEI President Josh Howell reflect on a recent learning tour to Toyota and GE Appliances, sharing insights the group gathered about lean transformation.
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Article
From Concept to Reality: The Importance of Manufacturing Know-How in Product Development
This month’s Design Brief examines the know-how behind making things well, including how rigorous process development paired with product development improves quality and costs, how…
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Article
Lean Product and Process Development at Scale: Implementing Obeya Across Global Teams
When implementing obeya workplaces globally, an easy trap to fall into is requiring that each location have the same look, feel, and metrics. Steve Shoemaker,…
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News
200,000 Preventable Deaths: It’s Time for Fundamental Change
The news reports that an estimated 200,000 people will die from preventable medical mistakes this year is a sad and telling statement on the abundant…
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Article
Why You Need a Product Focus for an Enterprise Transformation: A Talk By Jim Morgan
In this talk from the 2018 Designing the Future summit, former Rivian COO and LEI Senior Advisor Jim Morgan discusses how Lean Product and Process…
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Article
A Week of Kaizen in Just One Day
"Often when I hear people talk about kaizen, they are under the impression that this is some huge event with dozens of people fixing loads…
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Article
Taking Time for a Year-End Reflection with the Most Popular Lean Articles, Podcasts, and Videos of 2020
This year's content featured plenty of guests, returns from lean legends, and handfuls of ways that lean has been applicable in 2020.
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Article
Leadership Q&A: Karl Wadensten, president, VIBCO
From the LEI senior executive series on lean leadership:In the first couple years of its lean transformation VIBCO, Inc. saved over $2 million in inventory, cut…
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Article
Lessons on Managing Time from the hit show, The Bear
Dive into the world of The Bear, a TV show that authentically captures the intense challenges of restaurant life. Discover how lean thinking and collaborative…
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Article
From Lean Tools to Lean Management
I’ve been thinking about the challenge of lean transformation for 27 years now, since I started studying Toyota as part of the MIT global automotive…
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