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Sell One, Buy One, Make One: Transforming from Conventional to Lean Distribution
Big batches. Long lead times. Infrequent deliveries. Large inventories to cover fluctuations in demand. These aren't characteristics normally attributed to…
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From Lean Tools to Lean Management
James P. Womack reflects on the evolution of lean thinking over 27 years, emphasizing the shift from focusing on individual…
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Gross Domestic Product Verses Gross Domestic Waste
I’ve always been fascinated by how humans count, especially the way we always seem to count the wrong things. Recently…
Read article Example A3: Textron – Lean Boot Camp (from Managing to Learn)
An example of an A3, included as a sample in some printings of Managing to Learn.
Read article The Value Stream Manager
Objectives of This Paper:The Lean Enterprise Institute receives many questions about how to select the right person to be the value-stream manager. In…
Read article The Lean Way Forward at Ford
I’ve been reflecting on today’s remarkable headlines about the latest retreat by the Ford Motor Company as part of its…
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What is the Theory of Constraints, and How Does it Compare to Lean Thinking?
The following article reviews the Theory of Constraints (TOC), first published in The Goal by Eliyahu M. Goldratt and Jeff…
Read article Lean Thinking: A Look Back and a Look Forward
The meaning of lean thinking, how lean got its name, and an example of how it improved a grinding process…
Read article Thinking End to End
Every value stream runs from raw materials all the way to the end customer. And value for the customer is…
Read article Isao Kato Interview on Shigeo Shingo’s Influence on TPS
Isao Kato believed that people development cannot be separated from production system development. During his career at Toyota he developed…
Read article Mura, Muri, Muda?
Twenty years ago this month, when my first daughter was born, the young men I supervised in MIT’s International Motor…
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