Article
How do you apply takt time to service work?
Dear Gemba Coach: How do you apply takt time in fields like services where customer demand is not known?
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Article
Why You Should Think of Lean Tools as Frames
Michael Ballé, co-author of the recent book "The Lean Strategy" with Dan Jones, Orry Fiume, and Jacques Chaize; discusses why it's time to think of…
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Article
How Can I Convince My CFO?
Dear Gemba Coach: Is there a way to put a dollar value (cost savings) on these types of improvements? We have trouble gaining CFO support…
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Lean Landscapers
HighGrove Partners, an Atlanta landscaping company, needed some time to figure out how to apply lean management principles. After all, each of its 300 work…
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Article
New Year’s Reflection
Happy New Year! Even if you are not one of those who makes New Year’s resolutions the new year is surely a good time for…
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Follow-up Webinar Q&A with Jim Lancaster, Lantech CEO and author of the Work of Management
"The Real Work of Management" webinar drew an engaged audience that wanted to know more about the daily management system that CEO Jim Lancaster installed…
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How Wiremold Reinvented Itself Through Kaizen
Art Byrne shares a seminal 25-year-old article recounting how Wiremold tapped Kaizen to support a complete lean turnaround that continues to inspire and instruct people…
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Article
Will a real andon system bring the factory to a full stop?
Dear Gemba Coach: What would happen if we practiced andon for real – wouldn’t the factory simply stop?
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Problem Solving the Airlines
Rarely are process problems so clear as during the holidays! Have ideas for how to improve your air travel experience? Lean coach Danielle Blais does,…
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Article
Lean Roundup: Pull
A pull system links all production activity to actual customer demand--and creates what one lean thinker calls "an architecture for kaizen." Read more about this…
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Article
Can lean be used to turn around a company?
Dear Gemba Coach: Can lean be used in a turnaround situation? Does a burning platform make it easier or harder?
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Why are there so many different opinions about what lean management is and isn't?
Dear Gemba Coach: I have attended several lean conferences and am deeply interested in the topic, but puzzled about the diversity of viewpoints. Any advice…
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Book Review: Learning to Scale, a "Practical Field Guide" to Lean Growth
In his new book Learning to Scale, author Regis Medina has "successfully translated each concept of the TPS and lean strategy into a clear and…
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Case Study
Canada Post Puts Its Stamp on a Lean Transformation
A growing lean transformation at Canada Post's Calgary plant shows how lean principles can be implemented in environments other than manufacturing.
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Art of Lean on Situational Leadership, Part 2: Toyota, Taiichi, and TWI Job Instruction
After the introduction to what situational leadership actually is, Art Smalley returns to run through some examples as to how this process of development has…
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Article
Building A Diverse and Capable Workforce from the Bottom Up
Combining lean thinking and practices with diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives builds more inclusive, engaged, and resilient businesses. Here's how.
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Article
Serving Up Lean with a Southern-Fried Kick
Haven Hot Chicken used lean thinking and practices to launch a successful restaurant during a pandemic.
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Article
Does implementing lean mean creating a lean management system?
Dear Gemba Coach: My understanding is that implementing lean means setting up a lean management system. You seem to disagree. Would you explain?
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How should I assess the success of our lean progress?
Dear Gemba Coach: My management is asking for an assessment of our lean progress. How should I do this?
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What's your definition of lean?
Dear Gemba Coach: My company is adopting lean, which has so many definitions that I find it confusing. What's your definition and why can’t all…
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