Manufacturing is where many Lean ideas were first developed—but lasting results never come from tools alone. This archive explores manufacturing through the lens of leadership, safety, culture, and systems thinking, drawing lessons from real plants, executives, and frontline experiences that still matter today.
From Toyota and NUMMI to modern aerospace, appliance, and industrial operations, these posts show how manufacturing excellence depends on respect for people, learning from problems, and designing systems that make the right work easier.
As a guy who started his career in manufacturing before moving to healthcare in 2005, I don’t get many opportunities to visit the “Gemba” at a factory very often anymore. I get to occasionally visit a Toyota plant (in the…
Mark’s note: Here’s the last of three change strategies in a series by a guest blogger, Paul Serafino. You can click here to read earlier posts in this series about leaders who have no one to formally lead. Next week, I’ll publish Paul’s…
Mark’s note: Today’s post is by a new guest blogger, Paul Serafino. This initial post will be followed by a series of three posts with strategies that he tees up in this post. By Paul Serafino: The door to the…
Mark’s note: Today’s post is a guest contribution from Paul Critchley. Check out his previous posts here. As a long time Lean practitioner (and now Lean consultant), I have been asked lots of questions about Lean over the years. There’s…
My blog turned 11 years old last month. Thanks to everyone for reading! I looked back, as a Throwback Thursday, and found a number of really good posts that were published on this date...
Chapter 8 is written by Bob Rush, who currently works as a Lean Manufacturing Group Leader at Tesla Motors. Tesla, of course, is in the building that was the former NUMMI factory...
The W. Edwards Deming Institute and Dr. Deming's grandson Kevin Cahill worked with NBC to make the 1980 program available, giving the institute perpetual rights to it (see their blog post). To the institute's credit, they've made this freely available on YouTube.
Today’s guest is Mitch Cahn, president of Unionwear, a manufacturer of hats, bags, and apparel in Newark, NJ. I first learned about Mitch and his company because of a display they had at the Northeast LEAN Conference, which I blogged about here. What caught my eye was their display of politician hats they produce, including the...
Through our practice of Lean, we’re looking at processes and our management system, looking to identify waste and opportunities for improvement. Lean is about engaging people to have them ask why we do things a certain way or if things…
Mark's Note: I asked Paul Critchley to blog about this article from The Atlantic that I read recently: "Why L.L. Bean's Boots Keep Selling Out." You might want to read that first. Here's Paul's post: As a New Englander (and native Mainer) L.L. Bean holds a special place in my heart. For many, L.L. Bean represents everything...
Mark’s note: Today’s guest post is by Paul Critchley and he brings up important points about not reducing inventory too low before improving the capabilities of your system. When I was first introduced to Lean in the late ’90’s, a…
I’m going to be attending the Lean Startup Conference in San Francisco next month, as a “faculty member,” a moderator for a session, TBD, and maybe serving as a mentor. The organizers asked me to write a post introducing myself…
