Focus

Bringing Dantotsu quality improvement to parts makers

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FeaturesAug 12, 2021
Toshiko Narusawa
FEATURE – Improving supplier quality and reduce defects was an important part of Toyota Industries Corporation’s (TICO) Dantotsu activities since the very beginning. In this article, the author visits two parts suppliers.

Andon squares – 5S in the office

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FeaturesAug 9, 2021
Sharon Visser
FEATURE – As she gets ready to publish a book on her experience running Halfway Toyota Ngami, the author looks back at one of the best visuals the team implemented during the transformation.

The way to radical lean

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FeaturesAug 2, 2021
Michael Ballé
FEATURE – Reflecting on Nomura-san’s recently published book on radical quality improvement, the author encourages us to embrace the spirit of “Dantotsu” to meet the challenges we face as a society.

Reinventing reimbursement

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Case studiesJul 26, 2021
Tatiana Ferreira, Selma Souza and Luciana Gomes
CASE STUDY – The reimbursement department of the largest independent insurance company in Brazil has brought together lean and digitalization to improve its service to customers.

Superior quality to beat the competition

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The superiority of the Toyota Production System is now a recognized fact (Toyota has been profitable every year but one, for half a century), which means that today most manufacturing organizations around the world practice lean manufacturing thinking to some extent. The prevalence of this alternative way of thinking and managing in the manufacturing sector often generates confusion in other industries, in which people’s first reaction to improvement attempts is the now proverbial “We don’t make cars. Lean is a manufacturing thing.”

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FeaturesJul 15, 2021
Toshiko Narusawa
FEATURE – Today we repurpose a great article published in 2016 on Japanese industry magazine Kojo Kanri that focuses on radical quality improvement at Toyota Industries Corporation.

Lean as a path

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FeaturesJul 12, 2021
Dan Jones
FEATURE – The author describes Lean Thinking as a path of discovery and explains why attempts to define it “once and for all” are destined to fail.

How Dantotsu helped us to radically improve our quality

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InterviewsJul 8, 2021
Stefano Cortiglioni
INTERVIEW – The former executive of the Toyota Material Handling plant in Italy reflects on how Sadao Nomura’s “Dantotsu” method helped them to drastically improve quality.  

Deep dive in a lean digital company #5

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FeaturesJul 5, 2021
Catherine Chabiron
FEATURE – For a few years now, Theodo has made of quality and customer satisfaction the main focus of its work, and it is paying off. But what does it mean to pursue and improve quality at a digital company?

People, invention, and radically great quality

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When applied to manufacturing, lean tools like heijunka, SMED or Kanban cards allow for the optimization of production processes and the systematic elimination of waste (in its three incarnations of muda, muri and mura – respectively, non-value-adding work, overburden and unevenness). These happen by implementing the fundamental lean principles of pull and flow. However, it has now been proved that the principles characterizing lean manufacturing are universally applicable. They work in any sector and they apply to any kind of work – even though at times they require some adjustment."
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FeaturesJul 1, 2021
John Shook and Toshiko Narusawa
FEATURE – The authors discuss radical quality improvement at Toyota and introduce a new book by Sadao Nomura that the Lean Global Network has just co-published.

Standard work for leaders

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Lean ManagementJun 28, 2021
Sharon Visser
FEATURE – The author reflects on the importance of standardized work in her daily life as a manager and explains why one can’t expect to run a company only using reports.

Launching new medication quicker with Lean Thinking

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Some fifteen years on, we have hundreds of examples to learn from, from clinics and departments through to entire hospitals and even whole hospital systems. Not all early experiments succeeded, and we are still a long way from making lean a widely recognized way of working across the industry.
Healthcare providers around the world still face huge challenges, as ageing populations and unhealthy lifestyles boost the demand for healthcare faster than the growth of incomes and tax revenues from the middle classes. At the same time, the quality of care has not improved as much as the quality of other services in the economy, which is why more and more healthcare organizations are turning to lean.

Historically, lean healthcare ideas have been applied in large hospitals, but in the past few years we have started to see the philosophy adopted in earnest in many smaller organizations following a do-it-yourself approach that has generated many positive benefits. An impressive example is the Consorci Sanitari del Garraf near Barcelona."
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Case studiesJun 21, 2021
Augusto da Fonseca, Ludmila Xavier and Robson Gouveia
CASE STUDY – Clinical trials are known for their rigorous analysis and approval process. The experience of Roche Brasil teaches us what lean and agile thinking can do to speed it up.

What pull systems can I combine?

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FeaturesJun 17, 2021
Christoph Roser
FEATURE – In the last article in his series, the author discusses how you can mix and combine the different pull systems available to the lean practitioner.

Kaizen I didn’t know was there

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Lean thinking is naturally a fit for the service industry, because of its focus on constantly delighting customers and on providing them with value-adding products."
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FeaturesJun 15, 2021
Sharon Visser
FEATURE – As she packs before leaving Botswana, the author tells us of a wonderful example of Lean Thinking that resurfaced from her past working in the Botswana tourism industry.

Improving the front-line work in construction

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FeaturesJun 10, 2021
The LGN Lean Construction Working Group
FEATURE – What is the key to improving the front-line construction work? Our lean construction coaches pull their experience together to shed a light on the subject.

What pull system is right for you?

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FeaturesJun 7, 2021
Christoph Roser
FEATURE – In the third article in his series, Christoph Roser provides a practical guide to understand the most adequate pull system to your circumstances.

Deep dive in a lean digital company #4

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FeaturesJun 3, 2021
Catherine Chabiron
FEATURE – This month, the author learns how gemba walks happen in a digital environment, where the work and information are typically hidden in computers.

Developing problem solvers to advance lean construction

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FeaturesMay 31, 2021
The LGN Lean Construction Working Group
FEATURE – Construction is rife with waste, and yet lean is not widely adopted in the industry. The authors highlight how lean could benefit the sector, emphasizing the importance of developing problem-solving capabilities.

The criteria to decide on a pull system

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FeaturesMay 27, 2021
Christoph Roser
FEATURE – Before you decide which method to use to establish pull, you must consider a number of factors. Here’s the things you should be paying attention to.