Update on "Lean" Super Fast Pizza
Super Fast Pizza not just about a quick buck Here’s an update on Super Fast Pizza (link to earlier article). Is this a “lean” pizza concept? At the least, it’s a creative shaking up of the normal pizza value stream…
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All posts from Mark Graban’s LeanBlog.org, including podcasts, announcements, articles, and more.
Harsh CEO Criticism from Industry Week
IndustryWeek : Brandt On Leadership — Invasion Of The Profit Snatchers: John Brandt writes “What being a CEO does mean is taking care of No. 1. Greed is good (again). And running a company is less important than running a…
Toyota Triumphs
Newsweek: International Editions – MSNBC.com Last week, I asked about Toyota’s CEO Fujio Cho — is he not a “business superstar” ala Jack Welch and other “cover boy” CEO’s? This week’s Newsweek international edition features Toyota on the cover, and…
“Life after Lean” — Are We There Yet?
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…
Toyota and the “Thinking Production System”
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.”
Shingo Prize Awarded to Kaikaku The Power and Magic of Lean
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,…
Is Quality and "Do It Right the First Time" Obsolete?
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, but the market is…
Toyota Won’t Raise Prices to Help Rivals
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…
Professor’s book wins 2 awards
Click for Article Congratulations to Dr. Jeffrey Liker for the awards his book The Toyota Way has won. Has your organization made use of the Toyota Way concepts? Are there many un-read copies sitting on managers desks? What have you…
Overrated: Business ‘superstars’
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 everything,…
Big 3 talent jumps ship to rivals
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…
“A Case Study of Lean Manufacturing and Its Benefits When Well Executed”
Click for PDF Report In 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…