Article
Maintaining Emotional Heijunka During a Pandemic
In this timely reflection, Jim Womack calls for "emotional heijunka": taking a deep breath, identifying the most important problems that must be addressed in a…
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Article
Problem Solving Fast and Slow
"There are many paradoxes about the Toyota Production System," writes Ben Root. "Speed is certainly one of them. 'Do it slowly, but quickly.'" Read more.
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Article
GTS6 + E3 = DNA (Break the Code for Standardization, Sustainability, and Kaizen)
There's no "formula" for doing Lean well, but there are principles and practices that keep you on track. Read Tracey Richardson's (memorable) advice for leading…
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Video
Art of Lean on Work & Waste, Part 4: Excess Conveyance
Hi everyone. This is Art Smalley, president of Art of Lean, Incorporated. Today, on behalf of the Lean Enterprise Institute, we’re going to do a…
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Article
After improving processes with help from a consultant, how do I sustain kaizen in my department? My teams are hard to motivate.
Dear Gemba Coach: How do I sustain kaizen in my department? We’ve had a consultant help us with workshops, and we did improve our processes,…
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Article
Same Foundation, New Message: LEI Aims to Make Things Better
Same Foundation, New Message: LEI Aims to Make Things Better At the Lean Enterprise Institute (LEI), our mission for 15 years has been to advance…
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Article
Seeking Radical Quality in the Tech Industry
The CTO of a website design firm explains how a recent book on radical quality improvement in manufacturing inspired him to initiate similar experiments in…
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Article
How big should my lean promotion office be?
Dear Gemba Coach: How large should my lean promotion office be if I want to achieve quickly a lean culture change?
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Article
Is there a lean strategy?
Dear Gemba Coach: My team demonstrated the benefits of kaizen to the CEO who then asked us what our strategy was. Is there a lean…
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Article
3 Go-To Ways for Creating a Culture of Continuous Improvement Anywhere
To reach a state of endless continuous improvement, executives must lead the company in making a critical leap from management-driven improvements to employee-driven improvements, says…
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Article
Using the Logic of Lean Thinking to Combat Racism, Part 1 of 2
To create new anti-racist organizations, leaders need to fully embrace the five principles of lean: value vs. waste, value stream, flow, pull, and perfection. But…
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Article
Lean Roundup: Respect for People
Respect for People is one of the most abstract and yet most concrete tenets of lean, a guiding principle that informs how people work, coach,…
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Article
The Value Stream Manager
Objectives of This Paper:The Lean Enterprise Institute receives many questions about how to select the right person to be the value-stream manager. In some cases we are getting…
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Article
How do we solicit feedback from the shop floor without being overwhelmed by the enormous amount of ideas?
Dear Gemba Coach: I think we all know that the "suggestion box" has gone by the wayside. How do we solicit feedback from the shop…
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Article
What “Co-Learning” Across Industries Looks Like in Practice
"In April, as part of a 2-day capstone learning event for Cardinal Health, we brought the newest wave of Lean Leader graduates together to visit…
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Article
Leadership Q&A: Thomas Hartman, Senior Director, Autoliv Americas
From the LEI senior executive series on Lean Leadership: Autoliv’s Thomas Hartman describes the development of a lean problem solving culture, from early instruction by…
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Article
"We Are Unique"
While many people see Lean as applicable only in limited industries and situations and therefore can’t work in their unique situation, Darril Wilburn argues that…
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Article
Are You Creating the Right Environment?
Turner Construction is working hard to develop the "right environment" in which productive lean inquiry is baked into the working space of each situation their…
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Article
Lean Roundup: How Hoshin Kanri Creates a "Line of Sight"
Like anything that is essential to lean, one must understand how hoshin kanri works from the very detailed, elemental levels of the work of the…
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Article
Purpose, Process, People
When evaluating your lean efforts, Jim Womack suggests that you examine your purpose first of all, and then your process and then your people.
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