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Why You Need a Product Focus for an Enterprise Transformation: A Talk By Jim Morgan

In this talk from the 2018 Designing the Future summit, former Rivian COO and LEI Senior Advisor Jim Morgan discusses how Lean Product and Process…

by James Morgan, PhD

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Taking Time for a Year-End Reflection with the Most Popular Lean Articles, Podcasts, and Videos of 2020

This year's content featured plenty of guests, returns from lean legends, and handfuls of ways that lean has been applicable in 2020.

by Lean Leaper

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Leadership Q&A: Karl Wadensten, president, VIBCO

From the LEI senior executive series on lean leadership:In the first couple years of its lean transformation VIBCO, Inc. saved over $2 million in inventory, cut…

by Chet Marchwinski

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Lessons on Managing Time from the hit show, The Bear

Dive into the world of The Bear, a TV show that authentically captures the intense challenges of restaurant life. Discover how lean thinking and collaborative…

by Josh Howell

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It's About Best Practicing

"Just like practicing to learn to play an instrument, practicing the Improvement Kata helps us learn to view uncertainty more as an opportunity," writes Mike…

by Mike Rother

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Why don’t middle managers practice A3 thinking?

Dear Gemba Coach: I’m a lean consultant, and have been hired by a large service organization to develop an A3 problem solving training program for…

by Michael Ballé

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Is Lean Mean?

I was recently asked a question that demanded an answer: “How can you advocate ideas that improve efficiency but destroy jobs? What the world needs…

by James (Jim) Womack, PhD

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Should I bother reading lean management books or rely on experience implementing lean?

Dear Gemba Coach: Should I bother with reading lean books, or just work from experience? There are so many, and they seem to contradict each…

by Michael Ballé

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Levelled Production: Why Do It?

Ian Glenday explains how levelled production and "economies of repetition" make way not just for stability, but improved business performance.

by Ian Glenday

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Contributor's Corner: How Synchronizing Workflows Helped TechnipFMC Develop Its Latest Robot

Following the lean product and process development principles yields significant benefits. Just ask Scott Fulenwider and Hanna Schell as they report the results of their…

by Scott Fulenwider and Hannah Schell

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The Lean Power Stance

"Yoga is more than the physical movement of postures," writes Rachael McKay, an industrial engineer at lululemon athletica and yogi. "As a result of [practicing],…

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What Strategy Is and What It's Not

"In my career, I was always more interested in what it would take to create and sustain competitive advantage than just doing good things," writes…

by Dave LaHote

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From Lean Tools to Lean Management

I’ve been thinking about the challenge of lean transformation for 27 years now, since I started studying Toyota as part of the MIT global automotive…

by James (Jim) Womack, PhD

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Coping with COVID-19: Lessons from The Plague

In this time of pandemic, John Shook shares some ways this novel coronavirus is impacting him personally, noting "For Camus, hope is the enemy. But,…

by John Shook

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Reimagining the Restaurant Industry in a Post-COVID-19 World

The impact of COVID-19 has proven how ill-prepared we are to deal with crises. It’s time for hospitality businesses like restaurants to rethink how we…

by Richard Vellante

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Short Stories and Quick Kaizens

Lean coach Danielle Blais continues to see opportunities for lean thinking just about everywhere she goes.

by Danielle McGuiness

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Do we need more research to understand what works and what doesn’t when implementing lean healthcare?

Dear Gemba Coach: There are controversies over whether lean/TPS works in healthcare or not. Authorities in lean practice suggest conducting research that compares outcomes with…

by Michael Ballé