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

Our hoshin plan failed. What do we do now?

Dear Gemba Coach: How do we deal with hoshin kanri when things don’t work out as planned?

by Michael Ballé

Article

Management has a bad case of investment loss aversion. What can I do?

Dear Gemba Coach: I’ve been asked to take over the corporate lean program but the company’s investment plan favors large high-speed equipment, which I’ve come…

by Michael Ballé

Article

Ask Art: I Want to Convert My Company to Lean. What Are the First Steps?

The former Wiremold CEO explains the commitment you must make— and the expectations you must set—when you start your continuous-improvement journey.

by Art Byrne

Article

Standardized Work for Kaizen: Define, Achieve, Maintain, Improve

We can all agree that kaizen (continuous improvement to create more value with less waste) is important, but do you have standardized work for kaizen?…

by Tracey Richardson

Article

How Wiremold Reinvented Itself Through Kaizen

Art Byrne shares a seminal 25-year-old article recounting how Wiremold tapped Kaizen to support a complete lean turnaround that continues to inspire and instruct people…

by Art Byrne

Article

Does lean change how you think about business?

Dear Gemba Coach: I can see that lean changes how one thinks about business, but can’t quite put my finger on it. If you had…

by Michael Ballé

Article

Toyota the Bad Guy

Recently I am cornered frequently by beleaguered lean change agents eager to show me their scars inflicted by re-energized resistors. Lean naysayers have seized the…

by John Shook

Article

Lean Management’s Key Concepts

 The technical components and underlying philosophy of lean, based on the Toyota Production System (TPS), work together to create a lean enterprise. But companies embarking…

by Doug Bartholomew

Article

Why Leadership Needs to Drive the Bus

"Lean change can start from the bottom-up, I won’t say that it can’t, but the situation needs to flip quickly to leadership so that leadership…

Article

Leadership Q&A: Dan Ariens, CEO of Ariens Co.

From the LEI senior executive series on lean leadership:In the late 1990s, Ariens Co.faced a blizzard of problems. The iconic maker of snow blowers, mowers,…

by George Taninecz

Article

The Lean Genie Problem

"For leaders and CI professionals, it’s not practical to rely on the team you’re working with to institute every change that’s needed each time you…

by Daniel Fisher

Article

An Accountant’s Guide to Understanding Lean Accounting

I think one of the difficulties accountants face in understanding Lean Accounting is that we are trained to be “doers” of accounting. Our training and…

by Nick Katko

Article

The Lean Power Stance

"Yoga is more than the physical movement of postures," writes Rachael McKay, an industrial engineer at lululemon athletica and yogi. "As a result of [practicing],…

Article

No Standard, No Problem? Not Really. It’s a Big Problem

Learn why the A3 is more than a problem-solving tool, and why it's critical to leading change.

by David Verble

Article

Lean Communications: Why Old School is Cool

How often do you send an email when you could talk to somebody or pick up the phone? Read why Erin Urban thinks "old school"…

by Erin Urban

eBook

Real Numbers

Companies throughout the world are using lean principles to dramatically change the competitive landscape while generating new profitability and market share. As these companies transform,…

by Jean Cunningham and Orest (Orry) Fiume

News

Lean Enterprise Institute CEO John Shook Wins Sloan Management Review Award for Best Article on Change and Organizational Development

Winning article on culture change lessons from NUMMI should be “required reading” for anyone concerned with corporate culture change, according to SMR.

Article

Unique Philanthropy Does Well by Doing Good

An internship program enables students to attain real-world lean management experience while helping community service organizations reach more people.

by Patricia Panchak

Article

It Starts Within: The Lean Journey of CI&T

The lean transformation of Brazilian tech company CI&T was unique in that it began with an implementation of hoshin kanri. In this interview from the…

by Cesar Gon and Bruno Guicardi