Focus

Daily management and experimentation in a crisis

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FeaturesApr 6, 2020
José Roberto Ferro
FEATURE – As businesses struggle with disruption and an uncertain future in the midst of the Covid-19 crisis, the author suggests they turn to lean daily management and get into an experimentation mindset.

Fighting Covid-19 with lean healthcare

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FeaturesApr 3, 2020
Lean Healthcare Initiative
FEATURE - A Lean Global Network team of lean practitioners and coaches shares a set of lean healthcare tips hospitals can apply today to ready themselves for the peak of Covid-19 cases. 

Facing the emergency

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FeaturesApr 1, 2020
Catherine Chabiron
NOTES FROM THE (VIRTUAL) GEMBA – In this new series - one new article every week during the Covid-19 crisis) - the author asks companies how they are reacting to this health emergency. First up, Proditec.

Lean healthcare on the front lines

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FeaturesMar 30, 2020
Michael Ballé
FEATURE – Our coverage of the Covid-19 emergency continues with an article discussing how lean healthcare principles can support and protect the professionals at the front line of this war.

Panic buying and the Coronavirus

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FeaturesMar 27, 2020
Dave Brunt
FEATURE – With the Covid-19 emergency, people across the world have been stockpiling on household products, exposing the shortcoming of batching-prone supply chains.

Immunity

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Case studiesMar 19, 2020
Sergio Ferigo, Gianni Lorenzani and Matteo Consagra
CASE STUDY – This Italian manufacturer has found in lean a way to ensure business continuity and provide support to a distraught workforce in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak.

The power of lean planning

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FeaturesMar 12, 2020
The TenneT team
FEATURE – A Dutch transmission system operator is using Lean Planning – built around the Last Planner System – to better manage its complex infrastructure projects.

Sorting out sourcing

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FeaturesFeb 20, 2020
Carolina Moraes, Priscilla Ribeiro, Alaine Soares, and Tatiane Zutin
FEATURE – The Sourcing team at insurance company SulAmérica tells us about how they were able to transform the process in their department in order to become more efficient in dealing with their workload.

Predictable vs unpredictable work

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FeaturesFeb 6, 2020
Dave Brunt
FEATURE – It is a common misconception that our work is too unpredictable to fit into a standardized approach. The author debunks this myth. 

Grievances first

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FeaturesFeb 3, 2020
Catherine Chabiron
NOTES FROM THE GEMBA – How do you kick off a lean journey? This French company has chosen to begin by analyzing and tackling each customer complaint.

A 15-year journey of people engagement

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Case studiesJan 30, 2020
Tom Root
CASE STUDY – Here’s the story of a mature lean company from Michigan. The author tells us about Zingerman’s Mail Order’s lean transformation, their challenges and their successes.

Extracting waste from our process

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Case studiesJan 23, 2020
Rodnei Yogui
CASE STUDY – In a Brazilian insurance company, a team worked hard to streamline the revision of dental claims – a great example of Lean Thinking in an administrative process. 

Half the bad, double the good

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Case studiesJan 20, 2020
Eivind Reke and Kenneth Gilje
CASE STUDY – The story of this Norwegian window and door manufacturer shows how a deep and ongoing commitment to a lean transformation can help a company thrive against all odds.

New Year loss and found

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FeaturesJan 13, 2020
John Shook
FEATURE – 2019 was another momentous year for the Lean Community. John Shook reflects on what we lost and what we gained in the last year of the decade.

A year in lean articles

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FeaturesDec 23, 2019
Roberto Priolo
FEATURE – As 2019 draws to an end, our editor looks back at best lean articles of the year and tells us why Lean Thinking should give us hope for the future.

What is hoshin kanri?

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FeaturesDec 19, 2019
Roberto Priolo
ROUNDUP – In the last roundup on lean tools and concepts of the year, our editor collects and curates the best articles on strategy deployment (hoshin kanri).

Bringing lean to the people

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Case studiesDec 16, 2019
Vagner Agostinho Junior
CASE STUDY – This article briefly outlines the different stages of the lean transformation at Mercedes Benz Brazil, as the company looked for the best approach to engage everyone in continuous improvement.

When startups visit Toyota

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FeaturesDec 12, 2019
Sandrine Olivencia, Lucie Notaro & Régis Medina
FEATURE – Digital organizations are starting to recognize that Toyota’s unique approach can show them the way forward, just like it does “traditional” organizations. Here, we hear from a few startup CEOs following their trip to Japan.