Article
How Come Toyota Veterans Don’t Use a Roadmap?
Dear Gemba Coach: Recently I spent a few months working with Toyota veterans at an automotive supplier. I was surprised at their approach. I expected…
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Article
Should we have our own TPS "house"?
Dear Gemba Coach: My management wants to build our own version of the TPS (Toyota Production System) house in order to standardize our lean approach.…
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How Organizations Can Increase Profitability While Improving the Work Environment
A restaurant’s management team discovers that enabling cooks to stay focused on value creation improves business performance and makes them more effective leaders.
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Article
Just in Time, Just in Case, and Just Plain Wrong
Jim Womack responds the the January 12th Wall Street Journal headline “Just-In-Time Inventories Make U.S. Vulnerable to a Pandemic”
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TPS, the Thinking People System
The twin pillars of just-in-time and jidoka help support a full model about how to achieve customer satisfaction from employee satisfaction, through teamwork and respect,…
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Article
Why you can't convince your boss to support lean activities, unless ...
Dear Gemba Coach: I work as a deployment champion in a manufacturing company, but I don’t have the support of my managers because they don´t…
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Using Lean Thinking to Reinvent City Government
In many cities, stagnant tax revenues from a slowing economy coupled with rising healthcare and energy costs are causing budget shortfalls. To cope with the…
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Article
Ask Art: Why is Takt Time So Important in a Lean Turnaround?
Takt time represents the beat of the customer, or, the rate of demand, says Art Byrne: "As the primary focus of the lean company is…
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Case Study
Lean Management Case Studies Library
Learn how a variety of businesses and organizations used lean management principles to solve real business problems. We’ve arranged the examples in 16 categories to…
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Article
Why We Believe A Strong Customer Focus Is Needed To Drive A Lean Strategy
Is there any principle more core to the heart of lean than relentlessly focusing on the customer? In this collection of thoughts on the topic,…
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Case Study
Fighting Cancer with Linear Accelerators and Accelerated Processes
A series of cross-functional lean improvement teams in the Radiation Oncology Department at the University of Michigan Health System (UMHS) applied lean principles to processes…
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Current and Future Challenges: A Reflection on 15 Years of the Lean Enterprise Institute
LEI CEO John Shook and Founder Jim Womack discuss the state of lean thinking past, present, and a possible future. I've written in the past…
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Autoliv: Giving Power to the People
A case study looks at how Autoliv developed and sustained a lean-problem solving culture and how this global company shares best practices.
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Lean WX – An Rx for Making Things Better
As someone whose understanding of lean/TPS grew exponentially by working on the line, Josh Howell encourages every would-be lean enterprise out there, even those who…
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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…
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Article
How Lean Tools Support the Principle of Respect (Part 1)
We first met Andy Ward when he was struggling to save his plant from closure in The Lean Manager. Since then he's helped lead a…
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Video
The Art of Lean: An Introduction to Muda, Mura, and Muri
Take a closer look at the concepts of muda, mura, and muri and learn why you have to consider all three when you pursue any…
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Case Study
Massachusetts General Looks to Lean
Northeast Proton Therapy Center uses lean principles to increase capacity to treat life-threatening diseases.
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Coaching to the Challenge
With coaching there is no black and white answer – everything depends on the criticality of the business situation, the level of the challenge, and…
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Case Study
Lean Thinking Therapy Spreads Beyond the Shop
Medtronic Xomed expanded the lean transformation beyond the shop floor to areas such as international distribution, product development, and domestic shipping. Along the way, company…
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