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Your Value Stream Map Looks a Little Different…
If you think there’s a different way of applying a tool, ask, “Are we changing the tool to prevent us…
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View from the Hospital Floor: How to Build a Culture of Improvement One Unit at a Time
In this follow-up to our earlier case study "Transforming Healthcare: What Matters Most?", we examine how the Cleveland Clinic is…
Read article What do you think about a new boss who wants us to use A3s to solve problems rigorously?
Dear Gemba Coach: My new boss wants us to use A3s to “teach us how to solve problems rigorously” –…
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Kaizen Means You Care
"Lean leaders, and lean consultants (like me), often talk about the organizational benefits of kaizen: lower costs, bigger profits, shorter…
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Focus: Process or Results?
"We cannot improve results “directly," writes LEI faculty member Orry Fiume. "It can only be achieved by improving those processes…
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Seeing and Understanding the Work in Product and Process Development
"The role of most lean tools is to enable problems to be identified or to enable problems to be solved,"…
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Why won’t operators use andons?
Dear Gemba Coach: We’re struggling with andons. We’ve set up a button for operators to press and call for help,…
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Just-in-Time Roundup: Great Lean Reads from Across the Web (Vol. 17)
Our latest compilation of the best lean reads from around the web, this time featuring content from Forbes, Manufacturing.net, and…
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Inventory Waste: The “Hidden Killer” in Manufacturing
Andrew Quibell is back with the next sketch in his series on the four main areas of waste in manufacturing.…
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Boatloads of Muda
Ken Eakin saw his fair share of waste during his 13 years in the ocean-shipping industry, especially in the transportation…
Read article Rather than narrow problem solving, shouldn’t we look for disruptive breakthroughs?
Dear Gemba Coach: How can a narrow focus on problem solving help us to find innovative solutions? Shouldn’t we be…
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3 Tips for Accurately Assessing Your Current State
"Just because everyone remembers to include the current state [on a value stream map] doesn’t mean it’s always done as…
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