All Posts on Lean Blog

Industrial Distribution I often see references to "what's next after lean?" I saw two this past week, including the article linked to above. I have to chuckle, because are we ever "done" with lean? Toyota certainly is not done with…
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Many interesting comments here from someone who worked directly for/with Taiichi Ohno. He comments on developing workers who can think — TPS being the “Thinking Production System.”
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Click for Article This past year has been a good one for new lean manufacturing books. I haven't read this one yet, so I can't give it a personal recommendation, but I've heard many good things. Has anyone read this, have any comments or…
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Beware the product death cycle | CNET News.com:This article raises some interesting questions about the role of quality in today's marketplace. It argues that quality standards have definitely gone downhill, at least in consumer products,…
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Toyota Won't Raise Prices to Help Rivals There was a surprising headline yesterday that said Toyota *was* considering raising prices to "help" Ford and GM. Here is a link to an Auto Blog discussion of that. According to the Wall St.…
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USATODAY.com This article, although about CEO's, made me think about leadership styles and lean. Whether a CEO or not, do the most effective managers always try to be in the limelight? Is the typical mindset one that managers do…
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Detroit News Interesting article on the flow of talent from the Big 3 to Toyota, as well as the other Asian auto manufacturers. The article also talks about the flow from Toyota back to the others. The article also goes into some of the…
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Click for PDF ReportIn case you're not on the Lean Enterprise Institute mailing list (and if you're reading this, you should be), here is a Wall St. financial analyst report on Solectron. The report highlights the impact that lean has had…
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Virginia Postrel Article (NY Times article Feb 2005) Here is a great example of a company using lean to compete in the furniture industry, where most everything else is moving to China (or is already there). For anyone who has ever…
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Quotes from Adam Smith - Adam Smith Institute: "Consumption is the sole end and purpose of all production; and the interest of the producer ought to be attended to, only so far as it may be necessary for promoting that of the consumer.…
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Lean Enterprise Institute Congratulations to the LEI authors. I've used "Making Materials Flow" in factory settings and found that it gives a very structured framework for a materials group that has never implemented kanban, proper part…
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Hello, reader. Thanks for visiting my Lean Blog! If you'd like to share anything about your background and/or interest in lean, please click on the "Comments" link below. You can post comments here (or to discuss any article) without…
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Article LinkMain SME Lean LinkThe Society for Manufacturing Engineers puts out a noteworthy "lean directions" newsletter from time to time and there are many interesting columns to be found there.In this column, though, I take issue with…
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Autofieldguide.comHere is a very long article (set of articles, really) on Toyota and TPS. It includes thoughts from Taiichi Ohno, Fujio Cho, and Gary Convis.I had previously heard that the phrase "Toyota Production System" itself wasn't…
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Gemba Research - Blog A new article from the excellent blog at Gemba Research's web site, talking about the Toyota 7 (8? 9? 10?) Wastes. I've heard some people at my company talk about an 8th waste, not fully utilizing people's talents.…
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IndustryWeek : Editor's Page:A recent Conference Board survey shows: * 40% of workers feel disconnected from their employers. * two out of every three workers do not identify with or feel motivated to drive their employer's business…
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Kennebec (ME) Journal Here is a case study of New Balance Shoes and their lean efforts. It certainly sounds like they have been able to stay competitive, in Maine, only through using lean to cut cycle times and drive improvement. Please…
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No link to an article here, but I had to comment on a process that almost always has teh same form of waste -- automated phone prompt systems. Why is it, whether it's an airline, a bank, or an insurance company, that you have to punch in…
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