All posts from Mark Graban’s LeanBlog.org, including podcasts, announcements, articles, and more.
Amazon.com: Books Speaking of Toyota Way (see below), I just noticed on amazon that the “Fieldbook” should be coming out in September. Please check out my main blog page at www.leanblog.org The RSS feed content you are reading is copyrighted…
Quality Digest Magazine Many lean practictioners have read The Toyota Way, Jeffrey Liker’s book on the management system and management principles of Toyota. How many of us see the implementation of tools (like 5S or kanban) without recognizing the need…
Masaaki Imai interview! Masaaki Imai (the author of the book “Kaizen”) comments on the need to convert from batch to JIT and China ‘productivity’ among other topics. Please check out my main blog page at www.leanblog.org The RSS feed content…
Strategos, Inc. — Quarterman Lee I have been receiving the excellent email newsletter from Quarterman Lee for a while now, always enlightening about lean manufacturing tools, concepts, and cultural aspects. There are many useful articles and features on his website.…
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…
Click for Article Just 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 processes…
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 action.” This is…
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…
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 Toyota…
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 changing.…
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 Mulally, head of Boeing’s commercial aircraft division, compared…
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…
