Article

A Learning Partnership to Support A New Era in American Manufacturing

As policymakers and business leaders work to rebuild and reimagine a struggling U.S. economy, GE is not only at the center of the conversation about…

by Lex Schroeder

Article

Think You Know Your Warehouse or Distribution Center? Think Again

Most warehouse and distribution center managers lack the detailed knowledge needed for a lean transformation. Traditional management approaches often result in adding waste to cope…

by David Graham

Article

“Learning from Manufacturing” Versus Learning To Think Differently

Beau Keyte talks lean thinking and practice in non-manufacturing settings. "The big challenge now isn’t to learn lean thinking the way any other company learned…

Article

Students “Shocked” that Lean Accounting Isn’t More Widespread

Lean accounting seemed “so logical” to her students that they asked Professor Pencak, winner of a Lean Education Advancement Foundation scholarship, “Why isn’t everybody doing…

Article

How Respect for People Animates the Lean Spirit

Practicing respect is an animating force of lean leadership that colors how one coaches and develops people. This roundup of articles from our archives shares…

by Tom Ehrenfeld

Article

COACH’S CORNER: The 4 Critical Elements of Collaboration

Confronting a confounding but not uncommon problem when you're trying to collaborate.

by Eric Ethington

Video

Art of Lean on Problem-Solving, Part 1: Coaching Problem-Solving

Art Smalley is back and ready to teach all about problem-solving, this time with an emphasis on coaching. He starts broad and goes deep in…

by Art Smalley

Article

Coach's Corner: The Four Critical Elements of Collaboration

The building blocks of purpose, process, and more lead to effective collaboration, as Eric Ethington highlights these fundamental elements and the benefits of their implementation.

by Eric Ethington

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

Contributor’s Corner: Learning With 10X Speed at US Synthetic

How rapid learning cycles helped the synthetic diamond manufacturer slash its idea-to-test turnaround time from 43 days to 4.5 days — and create a significant…

by Ken Bertagnolli

Article

Visual Replenishment Delivers for Zingerman’s

How an online grocery business meets pandemic-related demand increases while maintaining a safe work environment.

by Karen Gaudet

Article

Once Again, Here's Why JIT Matters

Jeffrey Liker argues that recent media snipes fail to understand the crucial role JIT plays in a complete #lean system in surfacing problems & pressuring…

by Jeffrey Liker

Article

LEI In the News: Leading Trade Journal Asks How Lean Principles Performed During the Pandemic

Lean management principles didn’t fail during the pandemic; some companies failed to execute them correctly, especially the practice of just-in-time production, as LEI Senior Coach…

by Mark Reich

Article

Follow-up Q & A to the Webinar "Integrating Leader Standard Work with Visual Management Tools”

This webinar was one of our most popular and highly rated. From among the hundreds of questions that we received during the webinar, we selected…

by Joe Murli

Article

Leadership Q&A: An Interview with Jerry Bussell, co-founder, Jacksonville Lean Consortium

From the LEI senior executive series on lean leadership:As vice president of Global Operations at Medtronic Surgical Technologies in Jacksonville, FL, Jerry Bussell helped lead…

by Chet Marchwinski

Article

How are Assumptions Framing the Way You Do Business?

Coach Tracey Richardson shares a productive way to examine whether you are dealing with facts or assumptions at the gemba. 

by Tracey Richardson

Article

Lean business-IT integration, Part Three: What is an integrated business-it value stream?

In this, the third article in a five part series on lean IT, LEI faculty member Steve Bell explores the fundamentals of integrating business and…

by Steve Bell

Article

Creating the Conditions for Effective Lean Learning

If lean is problem-solving and problem-solving is all about learning, lean practitioners must develop a learner's attitude in everything they do. Here are five conditions…

by Lex Schroeder

Article

Lean Business-IT Integration, Part Five: Measurement - Finding Our True North

In the fifth article of a five-part series on Lean IT, LEI faculty member Steve Bell addresses measurement. Part One begins with the importance of…

by Steve Bell

Article

Don’t Just Do Lean; Be Lean

A lean transformation cannot be just one of 10 elements of your strategy, according to former Wiremold Company CEO Art Byrne, who has led more…

by Art Byrne