Articles
Learn more about your selected topics.
No Excuses
There has been much drive-by observation of lean operations over the years. A drive-by will unveil a fair amount of…
Read article
What is Lean Management?
If lean thinking means a different approach to business, then it must also imply a different approach to managing by…
Read article
Lean Landscapers
HighGrove Partners, an Atlanta landscaping company, needed some time to figure out how to apply lean management principles. After all,…
View case study It Takes 2 (or more) to A3
No one can create a useful A3 in isolation. It takes at least two individuals and often many more. Developing…
Read article Manage the Contract or Improve the Value Stream?
As much as I would like to, I can't walk frequently along every type of value stream. As a result,…
Read article Fighting Cancer with Linear Accelerators and Accelerated Processes
A series of cross-functional lean improvement teams in the Radiation Oncology Department at the University of Michigan Health System (UMHS)…
View case study Putting Lean Principles in the Warehouse
While lean principles and practices have been widely adopted in manufacturing over the last couple of decades, their use in…
View case study The Worst Form of Muda
One of the souvenirs I collect on my visits to different countries is special reasons why lean is impossible in…
Read article 5S for Information
When a Lean Thinker asked how to apply the principles of 5S to the company server, Dan Markovitz responded with…
Read article
From Staffs Conducting Programs to Line Managers Solving Problems
Jim Womack, founder and senior advisor of LEI, introduces the concept of 'touzen'—kaizen that should not have been necessary.
Read article For Athletic Shoe Company, the Soul of Lean Management Is Problem Solving
When it began a lean transformation in 2003, New Balance, the only athletic shoe manufacturer that still makes some products…
View case study Nice Car, Long Journey
2008 marks the 100th anniversary of the introduction of the Model T Ford. This truly is “the machine that changed…
Read article