Article

We’re being audited on five levels on fifteen topics. I feel that if we actually worked on all these items, the plant would just stop working. Am I missing anything?

Dear Gemba Coach: Our facility is being rated on a “lean maturity” audit. We’re being audited on five levels on fifteen topics, each having multiple…

by Michael Ballé

Article

Ask Art: Why Does Setup Time Reduction Matter So Much?

Setup reduction is a necessary step to go from traditional management to lean--or said another way, from batch to flow and from push to pull.…

by Art Byrne

Podcast

Preventing Problems by Thinking Upstream: A Talk with Author Dan Heath

“We should shift more of our energies upstream personally, organizationally, nationally, and globally. We can and we should stop dealing with the symptoms of problems…

by Lean Enterprise Institute

Article

What Should I Be Looking For?

Dear Gemba Coach: I’ve just started working with lean with my team, and we’re doing a value-stream mapping project with a consultant. While this has been…

by Michael Ballé

Article

How can we remain positive?

Dear Gemba Coach: I am a kaizen coach in a large company, and it never seems to get any easier. We’ve been doing kaizen for several…

by Michael Ballé

Article

No Shortcuts: Creating a Lean Environment the Right Way

As much as we may wish there was a way to pull off a lean transformation with only a basic knowledge of its ideals, there…

by Michael Ballé

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

Article

Can Lean Boost Sales?

Dear Gemba Coach: Every one says that lean is not just about cost cutting. But I fail to see how lean techniques can influence the…

by Michael Ballé

Video

Building the Enabling Bureaucracy

A conversation with RJ Scaringe about creating the "Rivian Way."

by Lean Leaper

Article

The U.S. Versus the World Healthcare Cost Gap

Lean thinking dictates that we try to turn any "problem" (or need, however big, however vague) into an actionable problem that can be analyzed. All problems come…

by John Shook

Download

Wiring the Winning Organization—Foreword Preface and Section I

Article

Getting Started with Lean Product and Process Development

Learning and applying the concepts of LPPD is no different than learning any other new skill in life, says Andy Houk. In this article he…

by Andy Houk

Article

Reimagining restaurants after Covid-19

The future has never looked more uncertain for restaurants and cafes. The authors share a set of practical lean tips that can guide these organizations…

by The Lean-n-Food-Initiative

Article

Becoming My Own Gemba

Like me, thousands of people suffer from undiagnosed or more complex medical conditions that mimic other conditions. And my TPS training in a way of…

by Tracey Richardson

Article

Ask Art: Why Should I Be Able to Make Every Product Every Day?

Working on the goal of "every product every day" helps all companies realize the benefits of lean as a strategy, says Art Byrne, by developing…

by Art Byrne

Case Study

Respect for People: Making the Job Easier for Workers

How a lean mindset and practices are reining in workplace disruptions, minimizing workers’ physical aches and pains, and improving flow at Turner Construction.

by David Drickhamer

Article

Green from the Start

LEI faculty member Jim Morgan shares his insights with Kelly Singer, managing editor of the Lean Green Institute, on how companies can increase their environmental…

by Kelly Singer

Case Study

Making Lean Leaders -- Ariens Internship Program Develops Lean Management and Leadership Skills in Everyone

Besides making snow-blowers, mowers, and string trimmers, Ariens Co., of Brillion, WI, makes lean leaders. An internal lean internship program steeps factory and front-office associates…

Article

The Birth of Lean: How Practices, Principles, and Tools Came Together as a System

Toyota was struggling to survive when Taiichi Ohno and a handful of innovators began experimenting with methods that ultimately became the Toyota Production System. The…

Article

Ask Art: How Important are Your Suppliers to Implementing Lean Production?

You won't reap the full benefits of lean production without involving your suppliers as an essential part of your value stream. Here's how.

by Art Byrne