I routinely scan the list of keywords that people use in the course of finding the Lean Blog. It’s sometimes interesting (I think) to share some of those here. The most popular current terms aren’t surprising: lean manufacturing, leanblog, lean…
Some of you might have read my “ChangeThis” manifesto, “How Toyota Can Save Your Life… At The Hospital.” I’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback from lean professionals, healthcare professionals (including an MD), and lean healthcare professionals. Thanks for that,…
Seth’s Blog: Good is not almost as good as great One of Toyota’s weak links, at least in the U.S., has been their dealer customer service. Jim Womack referred to this in our podcast last week and now business/marketing blogger…
In the past, I’ve referenced a story I had heard about a GM plant in 1980’s where the “completed” vehicles went to one of two areas: “minor repair” or “major repair”, the implications being that the factory relied on inspection…
Winding Road » Archive » Japan Report: Toyota To Build 8th Plant In MS, But We Hear No. 9 Is Already In The Works… Rumors are already going around about the NEXT factory that Toyota will build in North America.…
tl;dr: The andon cord isn’t a tool–it’s a trust signal. Toyota’s thousands of line stops reflect psychological safety and leadership support. Ford’s rare pulls reflected fear and mistrust. Lean succeeds or fails on culture, not mechanics. In 2007, a BBC…
Here is Episode #18 of the LeanBlog Podcast. My guest today is Eric Christiansen, the President of a translation services company, OmniLingua (more can be found here on their philosophy as a company, being a self-described “Deming Company.”) I was…
Detroit Free Press Commentary Excellent commentary here from columnist Tom Walsh. He says, in part: GM and Ford butchered the lean-production system in subsequent decades and lost their zeal for rooting out waste. When Toyota and Honda and other carmakers…
Lean Blog: Misunderstandings About Value Stream Mapping, Flow Analysis, and Takt Time The link above is my first blog post, from January 2005 (back when the blog looked like this). I let the blog “birthday” slip by again this year.…
LeanBlog Podcast #16 is the first part of two with Jim Baran, the Owner of Value Stream Leadership, a leading recruiting firm that specializes in Lean talent. I’ve known Jim for a few years now and he’s helped me and…
Tom LaSorda Plebeian Prince (WSJ) Here is a new interview with Chrysler’s Tom LaSorda, a lean leader who has been featured often here on the Lean Blog (some earlier posts here). LaSorda is spending a lot of his time at…
I was waiting on Evolving Excellence to post on this, so read their post first, but I had to chime in (original WSJ article here). Here’s another dumb quote the E.E. folks didn’t point out: “Some people may say this…
