Article

Lean Business-IT Integration, Part One: Who Wants to Go Talk to IT About This One?

In this, the first of a five part series, LEI faculty member Steve Bell begins with the importance of lean business-IT integration. Part Two offers…

Press Release

Gemba-Based Education for Supply Chain and Distribution Professionals

Lean Enterprise Institute and LeanCor, a third-party logistics provider, partner to offer hands-on workshop.

Article

It's Not the Crisis; It's How You Respond to It

He probably didn't ask for a problem of quite this magnitude, but like it or not, Akio Toyoda has his crisis. Akio took the reigns…

by John Shook

Article

When a Passion for Caring Becomes a Commitment to Process Improvement: Judy Worth and Karl Ohaus on Lean Thinking for Healthcare Organizations

LEI interviews lean practitioners and co-authors of Perfecting Patient Journeys Judy Worth and Karl Ohaus about the potential for lean thinking in healthcare, the value…

by Lex Schroeder

Article

How Do I Change the Culture?

Dear Gemba Coach: I come from a company quite advanced in lean and I’ve joined a new firm as technical director. I’d like to apply lean…

by Michael Ballé

Article

It Starts Within: The Lean Journey of CI&T

The lean transformation of Brazilian tech company CI&T was unique in that it began with an implementation of hoshin kanri. In this interview from the…

by Cesar Gon and Bruno Guicardi

Article

Using Lean Thinking to Help Schools Get the Resources They Need at DonorsChoose.org

A fantastic example of how lean thinking and practice has moved into the nonprofit sector, DonorsChoose.org began its lean journey in 2007 when its leadership…

by Lex Schroeder

Article

What's different about implementing lean in a low-volume, high-variety environment?

Dear Gemba Coach: I manage a plant that makes highly engineered, low-volume products. What do I have to do differently from the high-volume guys to…

by Michael Ballé

Article

Public Service: Lean's Next Frontier?

John O'Donnell and Lex Schroeder share the thinking behind LEI's new Public Service Value Network and invite you to contribute to a new and fast-growing…

by Lex Schroeder

Article

Why Lean Management Requires Humble Hubris

A lean coach reflects on the mindset and related behaviors that are the standardized work of “being the change you wish to see.”

by Jim Benson

Article

JoePa and Other Biases to Avoid

A recent viewing of the biographical film Paterno led LEI Senior Coach Mark Reich to reflect on the way many of us let biases filter…

by Mark Reich

Article

“Learning from Manufacturing” Versus Learning To Think Differently

Beau Keyte talks lean thinking and practice in non-manufacturing settings. "The big challenge now isn’t to learn lean thinking the way any other company learned…

Article

Why don't people learn from experience?

Dear Gemba Coach: On the gemba, we have many problems to manage every day. People don’t seem to learn from their experience. Is there any…

by Michael Ballé

Lexicon Term

Training Within Industry (TWI)

Training Within Industry (TWI) was a series of training programs developed during WWII enabling U.S. companies to hire and train huge numbers of new workers…

Article

Can lean go wrong?

Dear Gemba Coach: Can lean go wrong? Can the ideas be misused and can the outcome be bad for the company? Is there any way…

by Michael Ballé

Case Study

Book Clubs Help Agricultural Company Cultivate Lean Culture

Two continuous improvement leaders explain how they successfully use book clubs to spread and align understanding of lean management at a large company with multiple…

by Chet Marchwinski

Article

How can we reconcile the lean principle of respect for people with our disrespectful atmosphere?

Dear Gemba Coach: My company's lean program stigmatizes competent people as “concrete heads” for disagreeing with the lean coaches, even when the coaches' prescriptions make…

by Michael Ballé

Article

How can I train technical experts who know more about the work than I do?

Dear Gemba Coach: I understand I have to train people, but I work in a very technical area and they all know far more about…

by Michael Ballé

Video

Lessons from a Chief Engineer on Starting and Sustaining Lean Product and Process Development

A Caterpillar executive shares his insights on applying LPPD principles.

by Chet Marchwinski and Steven Shoemaker

Video

Smitten Engineers or Love at First Sight of a Solution?

Entrepreneur Tyler Schilling has felt the pain of engineering heartbreak – falling in love early with a solution only to realize later in the project…

by Chet Marchwinski and Tyler Schilling