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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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Purpose, Process, People
When evaluating your lean efforts, Jim Womack suggests that you examine your purpose first of all, and then your process…
Read article Fewer Heroes, More Farmers
I recently met with the chief executive of a very large American corporation organized by business units, each self-contained with…
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Best in Healthcare Getting Better with Lean
The Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN., is famous for the quality of its healthcare, but is using lean concepts to…
View case study What Lean Thinkers Think About The Gold Mine
Questions and comments†from readers to co-author Michael BallÈ about his book The Gold Mine.
Read article Leaning Healthcare
Healthcare is the next great industry to begin the Lean journey. The existing model in which the hospital doctor acting…
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