Faculty

Alan Noss

Alan received his introduction to lean when he worked for 13 years in the Service Parts Logistics Division of Toyota. He was responsible for training,…

Article

Closer Collaboration for a Leaner Planet

Roberto Priolo, editor of Planet Lean, makes the case for lean learning and collaboration across the globe.

by Roberto Priolo

Article

Advice from the Gemba: Getting More Suggestions without Incentivizing Employees

Improving the work is difficult, if not impossible, without suggestions from those who actually do the work. But in many companies, getting the workers to…

by Gavin Martin and Kelly Moore

Article

Cowabunga! Implementing Lean at a Surfing School

Lean is difficult for many companies to grasp at first, often due to the cultural shift. If the organization's people are used to a more…

by Sammy Obara

Article

Is there a way to define standard work for senseis?

Dear Gemba Coach, I’ve been working on lean projects for years and my CEO has now asked me to act as the lean sensei for our…

by Michael Ballé

Article

PDCA Is Really CA-PDCA -- and It’s the CA that Makes the PD Work

Why Grasping the Actual Conditions (firsthand as an automatic practice) at the beginning, during, and after a problem-solving effort is the most important part of…

by David Verble

Article

The Magnificent 7 of Lean Manufacturing

How do you establish stability on a shop floor that’s chaotic? Andrew Quibell recommends “7 manufacturing basics,” his personal selection of lean improvement tools, methodologies,…

by Andrew Quibell

Article

The Hunt for Alligator Eggs

"Like alligator eggs, problems often start small. If you wait a while and ignore them, those eggs hatch," writes Ellis New. "Wait a little longer,…

Article

The Mythical Value Stream Manager

If you want to make a serious impact in your improvements, consider shifting your focus outward to a value-stream level perspective and find someone who…

by Mike Orzen

Article

Why Lean Isn't Successful in Healthcare

How often do you choose to improve processes that may not provide any financial benefit whatsoever? Read why lean practitioner Janice Brathwaite thinks we can…

by Janice Brathwaite

Article

The Secrets of Lean

"The key to Lean is that it creates understanding, not knowledge," write John Ehrenfeld (Executive Director of the International Society for Industrial Ecology) and LEI…

by Tom Ehrenfeld

Article

Is there “mudagement” in your organization?

"Mudagement." What a strange word. But to Tony Lamberton, the concept behind that word has made all the difference in identifying invisible waste in his…

by Lean Leaper

Article

No Change is Easy: The Starbucks Siren Steps into Dunkin Donuts’ World of Orange and Pink

Lean is about a willingness to experiment and if necessary, change our approach to our work and our daily routine. Lisa Adams, a lean coach…

by Lisa Adams

Article

CI Sustainment: A Hiding Place for Complexity

"How many times has your continuous improvement solution wound up being more complex than the original problem?" muses Lynn Kelley. In her first piece for…

by Lynn Kelley

Article

Key Traits and Behaviors of Great Lean Consultants

"If you want to accelerate your lean practice I highly recommend reaching out to a good lean consultant to serve as your coach, teacher, trainer,"…

by Art Byrne

Article

How do you protect jobs while reducing lines and shifts?

Dear Gemba Coach: How do you protect jobs while reducing lines and shifts?

by Michael Ballé

Lexicon Term

Pull Production

A method of production control in which downstream activities signal their needs to upstream activities. Pull production strives to eliminate overproduction and is one of…

Article

Why and How to Engage Finance in a Lean Transformation. An Interview with Jean Cunningham

There's often a disconnect between an organization's lean and finance departments, especially when a lean transformation is underway. In her newest piece for the Lean…

by Cameron Ford

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A Brief History of Lean

Although there are instances of rigorous process thinking in manufacturing all the way back to the Arsenal in Venice in the 1450s, the first person…

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