Article

What's new in your new novel "Lead With Respect"?

Dear Gemba Coach: I see that you have a new lean management novel out called “Lead With Respect.” What's new in it?

by Michael Ballé

Article

Ask Art: What Foundational Items Must I Be A Zealot About?

Be a zealot on the foundational items such as 5S, visual management, and setup reduction, says Art Byrne, and your chances of succeeding with lean…

by Art Byrne

Article

Align Your Continuous Improvement Efforts: Practical Tips from 4 CEOs in 4 Major Business Sectors

Four CEOs who are leading lean management voices in the critical economic sectors of manufacturing, supply chain, healthcare, and education, offer advice on aligning your…

by Chet Marchwinski

Article

Don't Call It...Anything

Would lean be easier to teach and learn if it weren't called lean? If in fact it weren't labeled at all? Tracey Richaardson explains why.

by Tracey Richardson

Article

Little and Often

I still encounter a degree of confusion about one of the key mental models that gets in the way of Lean thinking. Making products in…

by Dan Jones

Article

Beware the Comforts of Waste

After a major move, lean thinker Rose Heathcote reflected that with lean thinking comes the responsibility to look inward at oneself before looking outward to…

Article

Was Steve Lean?

I don’t know that much about Apple. The only gemba I've visited are lots of Apple stores (I don't know if they're lean but they…

by John Shook

Article

In TPM, Isn't it needlessly costly to replace parts that are working fine? What do you think?

Dear Gemba Coach: I have a question about Total Productive Maintenance. My management has hired a TPM consultant who makes us systematically replace certain parts…

by Michael Ballé

Article

How does lean fit together with Lean Startup concepts?

Dear Gemba Coach: I work in IT and discovered lean through the Lean Startup movement. Now, as I read more about it, I find that…

by Michael Ballé

Article

How Do I Reduce Buffers To Zero?

Dear Gemba CoachI run an assembly line for service station equipment. Our product is customized for each customer so we have a huge variety of…

by Michael Ballé

Article

Develop Your People Patiently Rather Than Rely on Super Taylorism

Lean starts with quality, argue the authors, who note that by worrying about and improving quality, we are also reducing both the cost of our…

Article

“People who can’t change their minds can’t change anything else”

Many people argue that if lean management really was a powerful strategy, rather than an operational tactic, then more companies would be doing it, says…

by Orest (Orry) Fiume

Article

How to Handle Fire Fighting, Process Averse Cultures, Naysayers, and More

Summit attendees hosted their own conversations on lean thinking and practice last week, identifying challenges and opportunities for Lean within their organizations. Check out the…

by Lex Schroeder

Article

Meeting the 19-Billion-Dose Challenge

What does it take to meet the historic challenge of rapidly increasing the annual global vaccine capacity from 5 billion to 19 billion doses? And…

Article

Why haven't kanban and value-stream mapping improved delivery from a low-volume/ high-mix process?

Dear Gemba Coach,We work in a low-volume/ high-mix process with component machining and assembly. Our OTD is somewhere between 70% and 80%. Weíve invested heavily…

by Michael Ballé

Article

Any advice for how to implement real pull across the company?

Dear Gemba Coach: My boss, the operations VP, has asked me to implement a pull system across the whole company. I’ve practiced lean for many…

by Michael Ballé

Article

Leadership Q&A: Robert Chapman, chairman and CEO of Barry-Wehmiller Companies, Inc: “Guiding Principles of Leadership”

Barry-Wehmiller Companies, Inc. CEO Robert Chapman describes how the company's Guiding Principles of Leadership merge with lean thinking at this $1.1 billion global manufacturer of…

by Chet Marchwinski

Article

Just a Fish Stick: The Perils of Forcing Your Change Agenda onto Others

Change agendas may look good on paper, but that doesn't necessarily mean they're foolproof. Brent Wahba shares his thoughts on an oft-overlooked hurdle to change…

by Brent Wahba

Article

The Faster We Go, the Behind-er We Get

Speed to market is not just about doing things faster. It’s about taking the time to do things more intentionally. Jim Morgan, former product/process development…

by James Morgan, PhD

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