All posts from Mark Graban’s LeanBlog.org, including podcasts, announcements, articles, and more.
Detroit News Article GM, Ford, and Chrysler are frequent targets here for their “beat up the suppliers” approach to supply chain management. Here’s some encouraging news for GM (and for their suppliers)… not such good news for Ford General Motors…
How H-P Reclaimed Its PC Lead Over Dell – WSJ.com Today’s WSJ article doesn’t focus on the Dell layoffs (although it does mention them, as did the Evolving Excellence blog post on the layoffs), but rather the competitive dynamics between…
Northwest Air, Out of Chapter 11, Aims to Mollify Customers, Labor – WSJ.com Mollify (v): to soften in feeling or temper, as a person; pacify; appease. I don’t understand airline management at all. Airlines, in general, seem to be one…
In David Mann’s book, Creating A Lean Culture: Tools To Sustain Lean Conversions, he talks about the need to “embrace problems” as a key step in creating a continuous improvement culture (as opposed to the normal business habit of hiding…
Listen: Episode #26 of the LeanBlog Podcast brings us Dr. Gwendolyn Galsworth, of the Visual Lean Institute. She is the author, most recently of the book Visual Workplace, Visual Thinking: Creating Enterprise Excellence Through the Technologies of the Visual Workplace.…
JS Online: Editorial: A new way of thinking: Wisconsin is mentioned frequently here on the Lean Blog, with many small and mid-sized companies, in particular, getting great benefits from Lean (such as this case). Now, the Milwaukee newspaper is promoting…
Book Link There’s a new book from Chuck Yorke, co-author of the book All You Gotta Do Is Ask with Norm Bodek. The new book can be found here and is called “Yes Innovation: Everyday Improvement Everyday Leadership” The book…
Toyota fixing engine failures in new Tundra truck – USATODAY.com It’s hard to tell if this level of quality defect is typical for a new model launch or not. Anyone in the auto industry care to share a perspective on…
Toyota Talent is the third, and newest, book in the “Toyota Way” series: In this trilogy of books, each is very different and has its own unique place in the Lean literature. These books are unlike a series of novels,…
Freakonomics: Official Site I know this wouldn’t count as “leisure reading” for many folks, but I’m reading (and very much enjoying) the book Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything. I’m a nerd, I read books like…
Intelligent Design: Cellphones Are Kryptonite To Nissan’s I-Key – Consumerist I previously had trouble with my Prius key flying out at me (which I’ve gotten better with, it hasn’t flown out at me since I wrote that post). What I’ve…
Principle #1 of the Toyota Way says: Base your management decisions on a long-term philosophy, even at the expense of short-term financial goals. Back on April 14, I transitioned the Lean Blog from the old address of kanban.blogspot.com to my…
