Article
Cultivating Intuition at the Gemba
Our trainers conditioned us to water the seed of experience and use it not just to fire-fight but rather be more predictive and value add…
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Podcast
32. Coachable: A Model Story, Coaching Work Improvement
An excellent study in masterful coaching on the floor where the work happens.
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Article
When Is The Best Time To Implement Profit Sharing?
Orry Fiume argues that when businesses reopens, there are many things that will be different; and that when they do it will be time to…
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Video
Art of Lean on Situational Leadership, Part 3: D2-S2 and Coaching
Part two saw Art Smalley discussing Toyota, Taiichi Ohno, and more examples of situational leadership being exemplified in real-time. This time, he returns to provide…
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Article
Back to Basics
I often take advantage of relaxing holiday time to go over old things, take care of less pressing matters that I often don't have time…
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Article
TWI Job Instruction As a Way of Sharing High Value Knowledge
"Before we try to create value, we first need to study the jobs — looking for those parts of the job that require time and…
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Article
When should we do an A3 or use a different problem-solving tool?
Dear Gemba Coach: I would really appreciate your perspective on the following: (1) When should we do an A3 for something vs. when would it…
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Empowering Frontline Operators with Human-Centric Technology: a Conversation with Natan Linder
LEI chats with author and entrepreneur Natan Linder about the potential of software to enable improvement among frontline workers.
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Article
Monozukuri Through Hitozukuri
Michael Ballé reflects on what it really means to "make people before parts" and introduces two more lean terms that just so happen to be…
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Article
5S Again and Again and Again
Dear Gemba Coach,†I've just inherited responsibility for our 5S efforts in our company. Any suggestions for how I can get the program back on track?
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Ask Art: Aren’t You a Little “Old School” in Your Kaizen Approach To Implementing Lean Thinking?
When you say “kaizen is old school” you may be seriously off track, argues Art Byrne. Focusing on tools like A3 might be popular and…
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Article
The Dark Side of Concurrent Engineering
One of the fastest ways to reduce development lead time from concept to market is to work concurrently. But as product development coaches Katrina Appell…
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Article
Robert Cole's Observations on the Liker-Shook Dialogue regarding Toyota's Quality Crisis
I have previously introduced readers of this column to Robert Cole, Professor Emeritus at Berkeley, former long-time professor at the University of Michigan, and currently…
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Why Fundamental Shifts in Thinking Take Longer Than You Think
Think learning the fundamentals of lean thinking and practice is easy? Think again. Deep shifts in thinking will take some time.
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Article
The Escalator of Issues
A daily management system with daily performance metrics gives caregivers the sense that managers are really paying attention, that problems really are being addressed, and…
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Lexicon Term
Takt Time
Takt time is a calculation of the available production time divided by customer demand. For example, if a widget factory operates 480 minutes per day…
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Article
You Need More Smoke Detectors: Countering Firefighting with Leader Standard Work
Excessive firefighting is a major threat to lean transformations - it may seem easier to time-strapped managers, but it does nothing to foster a culture…
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Article
Single Week Exchange of Business
You’ve no doubt heard of a single-minute exchange of dies in manufacturing, but what happens when you need to changeover your entire customer base in…
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