All Posts on Lean Blog

Click for Article Another interesting example of "lean health care". I've had a chance to take a tour with the lean process improvement team at Osborn Medical Center here in Scottsdale, AZ. It's amazing to see lean and Toyota concepts…
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Click for ArticleJust a short while after Jim Womack's "Lean Consumption" article came out, here's a real life example of Toyota doing lean auto service in India. They say they are applying kaizen techniques and reducing non-value added…
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Newsday.com This article claims that in "the past three months, 14 textile plants in five states -- North and South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Indiana and Virginia -- have shut down. More could come, industry officials say, without federal…
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DallasNews.com This reminds me of a classmate who used to joke about the need to "PDCA your life". This article actually uses the word "kaizen" and references a psychologist who thinks its the right way for many people to address personal…
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Business 2.0 - Magazine Article An article from January worth repeating... an interview with Toyota's CEO. The company was named "Smartest Company of 2004" by the magazine. If you click on the link, there are some related articles about…
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The New York Times (registration required) Chinese factories no longer have to hire security guards to keep the job applicants away? This article says "no one thinks China is running out of workers", but it sounds like conditions are…
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WSJ.com (registration required) Not really "new" news, but an article that discusses Boeing and Airbus "copying" Toyota. Interesting quote:"We always thought airplanes were different because they had four million parts," says Alan…
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Detroit Free Press The article doesn't say directly that Steelcase is cutting jobs "because of" lean manufacturing, but it seems hard not to draw that relationship. If the company is cutting jobs in the midst of a lean effort, that can't…
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JS Online Nice case studies of older midwestern companies fighting Chinese competition with lean manufacturing, in some cases bringing work back from overseas. Staying close to the customer and being responsive is key.Please check out my…
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The Hindu Business LineInteresting to read that China is supposed spending time and effort on lean training. I assumed that China factories were not "lean" because labor was so cheap - but this sure would make the competitive threat that…
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OK, so this isn't strictly a standard work document, but this is an overview of the Lean Blog. I did update it on 7/19/05, though, in the spirit of continuous improvement. Updated 5/15/18 1) I run this blog strictly as a small (focus on…
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Masaaki Imai interview! Masaaki Imai comments on the need to convert from batch to JIT and China 'productivity' among other topics.
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Press Release Looks like great work by the Boeing 737 team! "We're not going to stop at a 50 percent reduction, but improving our production system isn't just about doing things fast. It's about doing everything better, continuously…
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Business 2.0 - Magazine Article Improve. This was in a magazine that hit my mailbox yesterday, an interview with Toyota's CEO. The company was named "Smartest Company of 2004" by the magazine. If you click on the link, there are some…
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(United Press International): "'The initial budget came back from OMB ... at zero." The Manufacturing Extension Partnership is being threatened with budget cuts again (almost an annual event). The MEP offices around the country…
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The New York Times > Business > Decline in Sales Sends Mitsubishi Motors on a Search for Financing A look into Japan's approach to company bailouts -- similar to what we've seen here with airlines and some manufacturers. Is it too…
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KLTV 7 Tyler-Longview-Jacksonville, TX: Another company looking for handouts. I found it funny that the Dell VP would say "I'm worried for our country" if North Carolina didn't give them a zero taxes for 20 years deal to open a new…
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The New York Times J.T. Battenberg, CEO of Delphi, is looking for federal handouts for health care, R&D, etc. How much money can we generate by eliminating waste rather than looking for help from others?
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