How Can Lean Users Sustain Gains?
How’s your Lean initiative doing? Is it going great? Or is it starting to lose steam? Or is it clearly failing to meet expectations? Have you given up and gone back to the not-so “good old days” from...
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E-Z-Go Accelerates Six Sigma Buy-in Through Lean
Employed with Textron for 22 years, Stern entered the continuous improvement program in 2005 as a Black Belt and has since become a Master Black Belt. She currently oversees training in Textron’s CI...
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Lean Line Balancing in the IT Sector
Line balancing – the process of aligning operations within a specific production line to minimize production fluctuations and operational downtime – is often closely associated with the manufacturing...
View ArticleFinding the Balance Between Leadership and Management
The first article of this series discussed how a number of Lean initiatives either fail outright or fail to deliver as planned. Furthermore, the first article went on to attribute these shortcomings to...
View ArticleLean Leaders Are Everywhere – If You Make It So
The first article of this series discussed how many Lean initiatives either fail outright or fail to deliver as planned. Furthermore, that article went on to attribute these shortcomings to four...
View ArticleWhy Lean Manufacturing Fails
During both prosperous and difficult times, successful businesses naturally look for new ways to improve performance. However, in recent years, as the world economy suffered through one of the worst...
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Increase Lean Six Sigma’s Power with TOC and Systems Thinking
Lean Six Sigma (LSS) has demonstrated the ability to produce outstanding results; over time, however, returns from LSS may begin to slow. One of the more common reasons cited for slowing returns is...
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The Many Sides of a Gemba Walk
Editor’s note: A follow-up article features three specific examples of gemba walks. With so many tools available to a continuous improvement professional, it is easy to get overwhelmed and consequently...
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Gemba Walks Come to Life at Fairbanks Morse Engine
Editor’s note: In a previous article, author Lindquist describes what a gemba walk is. Here he presents three examples of gemba walks. Gemba walks at Fairbanks Morse Engine demonstrate the importance...
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Lean Increases Small Team Effectiveness Three-fold [VIDEO] – With Jim Benson
Implementing the Lean methodology in small teams can have enormous benefit, in one case increasing team effectiveness, as measured by throughput, by 200 percent to 300 percent. Other benefits include...
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Managing to Standard Work in the Office
In the fourth quarter of 2010, Fairbanks Morse Engine had to swallow a tough message from its customers: You are too slow and we are not going to take it anymore! After an extensive voice of the...
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Applying Lean to New Product Development in Engineering Services
Lean can be applied to any industry, not just manufacturing, because any business can benefit from improvements in cycle time, cost savings, productivity, efficiency and more. This case study examines...
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The Harada Method: Reduce the Eighth Waste – Part 1 of 2
The Harada method helps individuals achieve self-reliance that in turn facilitates a company’s process improvement journey. This week’s article provides an overview of the method and its genesis. Part...
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The Harada Method: Templates to Measure Long-term Goal Achievement – Part 2 of 2
The Harada method helps individuals achieve self-reliance that in turn facilitates a company’s process improvement journey. Part One provides an overview of the method and its genesis. Part Two...
View ArticleFinding the Balance Between Leadership and Management
The first article of this series discussed how a number of Lean initiatives either fail outright or fail to deliver as planned. Furthermore, the first article went on to attribute these shortcomings to...
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Lean Implementation for IT Company
An information technology (IT) services company was engaged by a European telecom service provider to provide end-to-end testing for its five lines of business. End-to-end testing is a methodology used...
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Lean Start-up: A Cycle of Continuous Evolution
At the heart of the new-product development movement known as “Lean start-up” is a conversation. The conversation starts with an idea – a hypothesis – about what customers care about and how a company...
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Heijunka: The Art of Leveling Production
Heijunka (pronounced hi-JUNE-kuh) is a Japanese word that means “leveling.” When implemented correctly, heijunka elegantly – and without haste – helps organizations meet demand while reducing while...
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Resource Page: Takt Time
During the month of August – while many are taking time off to enjoy summer – we will be offering a resource page on a different topic each week. The resource page features an overview of the week’s...
View ArticleFLEXcon: Lean for the Long Run
The following are selected highlights of a corporate leadership profile of FLEXcon. The complete article – with more details about Lean application and how the company avoided layoffs during the...
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