All posts from Mark Graban’s LeanBlog.org, including podcasts, announcements, articles, and more.
Our consulting firm has two HR requirements before we’ll work with a client: 1. No regular employee will lose their job as a result of improvement activities. 2. No “forced ranking”. This means that there is no ongoing practice for…
This post comes from Mark Edmondson, President of LEAN Affiliates. Our team periodically visits a new client site that has a lean initiative in place. In these situations, we’re trained to rapidly assess the status of their efforts. Recently, after…
Here is a story from my plant, where we are in the early stages of a company wide lean implementation. I think this story shows how “old habits” can be hard to break. Inside the front door, we have a…
Preventing Lean Failures: Reason #2: Lack of Communication Come discuss the importance of management communication in your lean implementation efforts. Do you have any horror stories or tips to share? Check out the “Preventing Lean Failures” blog. Please check out…
Uncommon Sense: Is It Lean…or Just Anemic? Every once in a while I run across a very misguided article/column on lean, this one falls into that category. If you’re experienced with lean/TPS, you’ll recognize the traps this author has fallen…
L.A. Daily News Lean manufacturing, lean healthcare, now….. lean jails. The LAPD has gone through lean enterprise and TPS training through Toyota. “Last week, Chief William Bratton told the Board of Police Commissioners that Toyota methods have produced dramatic changes…
Click Here for the Blog: Reason #1: Lack of Top Down Management Support Click Here for the Blog: Reason #2: Lack of Communication I have been working with Larry Rubrich, from WCM Associates, and author of the recent book “How…
WSJ.com – Requires Subscription As Toyota grows, they are struggling with finding/keeping enough people who truly understand TPS tools and the Toyota Way. I’ll try to find a “free” version of this article but here are a few highlights (trust…
The Kinston Free Press Here is a nice little local story about a small (26 employees) company that started with lean (sounds like they did some training and a 5-day kaizen event to improve their production line). It’s always interesting…
WSJ.com – Requires Subscription: In an article that talks about Toyota’s lead (along with Honda) in hybrid vehicles, Toyota’s new President references Kaizen. “Mr. Watanabe said Toyota, through its storied manufacturing system of kaizen, or continuous improvement, can reduce by…
Marshall Loeb’s Daily Money Tip – General News – Personal Finance First off, are you reading this at work? ;-) This has been in the news the past few days and all of the blame seems to be pointed at…
EMS Consulting Here is another newsletter article from EMS Consulting and Darren Dolcemascolo, a friend of this blog. His article reminds me of my days at GM, in an engine plant. Our plant had studied a Toyota engine plant and…
