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Art of Lean on Work & Waste, Part 8: Processing
Understand the two aspects of the waste that requires a careful understanding of customer requirements. Watch the final part of an eight-part series focusing on…
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Article
Problem Solving For Lean Continuous Improvement
What does real lean problem-solving look like? In this column, David Verble shares his experience at Toyota, revealing how the company culture bases its problem-solving…
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Article
Lean business-IT integration, Part Three: What is an integrated business-it value stream?
In this, the third article in a five part series on lean IT, LEI faculty member Steve Bell explores the fundamentals of integrating business and…
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Making the World Better by Advancing Lean Thinking and Practice
When establishing a scholarship and philanthropy fund, the Lean Enterprise Institute practices what it preaches.
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Leading and Learning the Toyota Way
Lean coach and LEI faculty member, Tracey Richardson, tells us why a learner's attitude is essential for effective leadership and in creating a lean management…
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Leader Standard Work: Where to Start
Striving to be an effective lean leader or manager is well and good, but without the discipline of leader standard work, you're not likely to…
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Throw Out Your Assumptions About Your Customer
LEI intern Francesco Possio reflects on his Lean Startup Machine workshop experience at the Cambridge Innovation Center.
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Article
Kaizen is Fun? Really?
Dear Gemba Coach: I have been learning lean for three years now. My question to you: How is Kaizen 'fun'? Doing lean shakes people out of…
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Ask Art: What to Look for in a Lean Team Leader
One of Art Byrne's most-asked questions is, "What are the key traits for a lean team leader?" His recommendation might surprise you - take a…
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Matched Pairs: To Improve Supplier Relationships, Start Inside Your Organization
Jim Morgan shares how adopting a Matched Pair strategy that teams supply chain and engineering leaders with a common plan, shared objectives and a powerful…
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Article
5 Missing Pieces in Your Standardized Work (Part 1 of 3)
John Shook offers an overview of the five most frequent misunderstandings about this fundamental lean practice and expands on three of them.
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Article
Lean Is A Product-Driven Strategy
What is at the core of lean? Michael Balle argues, in terms of our best known example: "Toyota is not an efficiency-driven company. It’s a…
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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?…
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Article
Thinking About Buffers and Production Systems (Birth of Lean Chapter IV – "The Evolution of Buffers at Toyota" – Kaneyoshi Kusunoki )
John Shook: "This week I continue my indulgence in exploring the Birth of Lean with a look at another chapter that some readers may tend…
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Reflecting to Learn: Takeaways and Reflections on the A3 Process
In the wake of yesterday's interview with Mr. Isao Yoshino on the roots of the A3 process at Toyota, LEI Chairman and CEO John Shook…
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Article
The Lean Way Forward at Ford
I’ve been reflecting on today’s remarkable headlines about the latest retreat by the Ford Motor Company as part of its “Way Forward” campaign. While reflecting,…
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Kaizen and Innovation
Dear Gemba Coach: Can kaizen stifle breakthrough innovation?
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There are so many lean management principles to know and tools to master at the start – is there an easier way to begin?
Dear Gemba Coach: Isn’t there an easier way to start lean? For a beginner, it seems like such a mountain to climb – all these…
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What's wrong with taking a tools approach to lean management?
Dear Gemba Coach: I keep hearing that a tool approach to lean is wrong, but tools deliver results – how can that be wrong?
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Why Are There So Many Points of View About What Lean Is?
Dear Gemba Coach: I’ve been interested in lean for over two years now, and can’t quite understand why after 20 years there are still so…
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