Case Study
Lean + Circular Principals = a New True North for Manufacturer
SunPower's lean journey resembled most others until it defined a new mission, a new True North. The mission statement changed from the business-like “install 10…
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Case Study
Manufacturing Balancing Act: Pull Versus ERP
In this follow-up story to our case study about Phase 2 Medical Manufacturing, Inc., the company faces an enviable dilemma: because the lean transformation has…
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Article
How Pall Corporation Accelerated the Covid-19 Vaccine Process Development using Lean Thinking and Practice
Learn how Pall Corp developed and deployed a full manufacturing process in eight weeks – an 80% reduction compared to typical development times.
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Article
The Case for Lean Thinking in Retail and Service Organizations
Josh Howell, senior coach at LEI, recently joined Ron Pereira at Gemba Academy for podcast conversation on coaching, lean thinking for retail and service organizations,…
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Article
The 5 Diseases of Prioritization
Prioritization is rarely a problem by itself. Instead, it’s a symptom of a set of illnesses: Swervy, Thickets, Costeoporosis, Planemia, Politicitis. Here’s the cure from…
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Article
More Evidence That ThedaCare Rocks
LEI coach Danielle Blais reflects on her recent gemba visit to the lean healthcare organization, Appleton Medical Center in Appleton, Wisconsin—a ThedaCare hospital widely known…
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Article
Lean thinkers, doers unite to discuss workplace challenges
This article is the first in a series exploring the key insights and discussions from the recent Future of People at Work Symposium, a groundbreaking…
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Article
Create Constancy of Purpose
Looking back on the admirable work of two lean leaders who established constancy of purpose, Jim Womack asks: what would have happened to the world…
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Article
Personal Kanban: You Can’t Manage What You Can’t See
Think personal kanban can't be applied to knowledge work? Think again. Drawing on examples from Jim Benson and Tonianne DeMaria Berry's book "Personal Kanban: Mapping…
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Article
Everyday Kaizen
"With the right teaching and guidance, a good process, and a target of one kaizen activity per day, team leaders should develop [problem solving] skills…
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Article
Apples & Oranges: Value-Stream Mapping in a Low-Volume/High-Mix Environment
Here's how one LVHM company mapped its complex value streams — and discovered the path to next-level productivity that enabled it to transform the business…
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Article
Is Your Improvement Project Headed Down the Road to Nowhere?
"The scientific method applied consistently [can mean] beginning a continuous improvement journey that lasts, well... forever," writes Tim Kane. Read Kane's reflections on how to…
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Article
Lean in Sales and Marketing
“Half my advertising budget is wasted – trouble is, I don’t know which half,” department store magnate and marketing pioneer, John Wanamaker, famously said. That…
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Article
Manage the Contract or Improve the Value Stream?
As much as I would like to, I can't walk frequently along every type of value stream. As a result, it has been a while…
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Article
The Question All Healthcare Leaders Should be Asking Themselves
Lean healthcare expert Mark Graban takes a common problem he sees again and again in hospitals (errors with hourly rounds or inconsistent hourly rounds) and…
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Article
Method vs. Tool
Dear Gemba Coach: I think that TPM, JIT, SMED, Heijunka are methods and the 5S, VSM Kaizen are tools. Perhaps we could use the expression…
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Article
Standardized Work in Business Processes
Dear Gemba Coach: How about standardized work in a business process environment? For example, in a procurement process or supply chain processes? There are not many…
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Article
What are the biggest obstacles you are facing in your lean journey?
Company culture, weak management support, lack of lean knowledge – even federal budget sequestration – were among the answers you gave when we asked, "What…
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Article
Starting Points for Different Value Streams
No lean transformation story is the same. Read Dan Jones's take on gaining traction for lean learning within your organization and industry.
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Article
Lean Lessons from Cobra Kai(zen) and the Karate Kid
The unexpected wake-up call of the modest perfection of the original Karate Kid movie was that we need to move beyond defending this or that…
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