Kaizen and Lean Manufacturing thoughts | Gemba Panta Rei
I was going to blog about this, but Jon Miller from the excellent Gemba Panta Rei blog beat me to it and had some outstanding comments. So, I'll just point you his way.
I'll just re-emphasize the point that inventory is a symptom of other problems, including lead times (long or variable), demand variability, and quality variability. My challenge to you, as a reader, is to find a case where someone says “we need to cut inventory” and find the root causes for why that inventory is being held, then work on a root cause, such as reducing supplier lead time variability.
This article, and Jon's comments, also emphasize one way “lean healthcare” is different than lean manufacturing — it can be very tough to plan capacity or level load your demand when pandemics can occur.
Please scroll down (or click) to post a comment. Connect with me on LinkedIn.
Let’s work together to build a culture of continuous improvement and psychological safety. If you're a leader looking to create lasting change—not just projects—I help organizations:
- Engage people at all levels in sustainable improvement
- Shift from fear of mistakes to learning from them
- Apply Lean thinking in practical, people-centered ways
Interested in coaching or a keynote talk? Let’s start a conversation.
