tl;dr: Lean fails when organizations cherry-pick tools like 5S, pull, or heijunka without adopting Lean as a complete management system. Sustainable results require long-term thinking, aligned leadership behaviors, and psychological safety–not just isolated practices. Why don’t people do pull? Why…
TL;DR: A look back at Lean manufacturing training from 2002 reveals a familiar lesson: Lean succeeds when customers treat suppliers fairly, production schedules are stable, and improvement goes beyond tools to include respect, trust, and Kaizen thinking. Toyota’s approach–then and…
I’ve been overdue in writing more posts about our Japan tour that took place two months ago now. See previous posts in this series. I’m going to try to do one post a week on this topic. It’s always fascinating…
I recently saw an article about Avera Medical Group and Sanford Clinic in Sioux Falls, South Dakota: “Health systems learn to be lean.” Avera McKennan Hospital, in Sioux Falls, was featured in the 2nd edition of my book Lean Hospitals. A physician…
I didn’t know , until yesterday, that Toyota has an official company blog (at least for Toyota UK). Even though I’ve learned from Toyota people and many books and classes (and I’ve written books of my own), I always encourage…
I’m happy to be a participating author on “The Lean Edge” blog/site that’s hosted by Michael Ballé author of The Gold Mine and other books. Their most recent question has many responses and I’ll try to help organize them for you here. Question: As CEO…
I’m in my home town of Livonia, Michigan this week, having arrived to the snow and cold yesterday, staying through Thursday. Boy, my blood has really “thinned out” from 15 years of mostly living in Texas or Arizona. I made…
TL;DR: This post revisits the origins of lean production through John Krafcik’s 1988 article, reflecting on how lean manufacturing began as an integrated management system rooted in culture, leadership, and respect for people–and why those foundations still matter more than…
Here’s a fascinating article: “How Toyota brought its famed manufacturing method to India.” The piece starts with a story about a classic Toyota management practice — “Genchi Genbutsu, or on-site inspection, which is at the core of the Toyota Production…
After the nice response to Lean Hospitals and Healthcare Kaizen, I often get asked, “So, what’s your next book going to be?” (other than the upcoming Executive Guide to Healthcare Kaizen, that is). I’ve had people suggest writing something about…
Mark’s Note: Today’s post is by David Veech, the Executive Director of the Institute for Lean Systems. A fear or anxiety that people often have when they hear the term “lean” is that it will be a stressful environment, sort…
I’ll start the week with another post about my tour of the TMMTX (Toyota Motor Manufacturing Texas) plant in San Antonio. Today, I’ll write about the visitor center – other than having Toyota vehicles on display, what does the company…
