The formula behind the success of Toyota
INTERVIEW – What is the secret to Toyota’s ability to engage people in continuous improvement? Tracey and Ernie Richardson look back at their time with the company and tell us.
Lean Companies
Developing lean thinkers – Lessons from Toyota
VIDEO - In this video from the recent European Lean Educator Conference, John Shook and Isao Yoshino draw on their experience at Toyota to reflect on the development of lean thinkers.
Kgotla, a foundation for lean thinking
FEATURE – Is it possible to build our lean transformation efforts on pre-existing cultural aspects we find in our societies? According to the author, it is… and it works really well.
From kaizen to innovation
FEATURE – Innovation is a process and lean thinking allows that process to take place, by empowering everyone in the company to think creatively about solving customer problems.
A story of lead-time in digital
BUILDING BRIDGES – In another article for their series, lean digital company Theodo tells us about their efforts to measure and reduce its lead-time to deliver product features.
Lean learning happens across sectors too
FEATURE – The power of cross-pollination: learning from a manufacturing company has helped a cancer treatment center in Brazil to thrive in its lean transformation.
Bringing agility to Toyota
INTERVIEW – The Chief of Agile at Toyota Connected tells us about the agility journey of Toyota and explains why the divide between lean thinking and Agile has no reason to exist.
Doubling the number of performant Apps using kaizen
BUILDING BRIDGES – A member of the Theodo team tells us about their attempts to improve the performance of their Web apps using lean principles.
The architecture of a lean transformation
FEATURE – The role of the coach in a lean transformation is an often-debated topic. The author discusses his experience building the architecture of the Halfway turnaround.
Unearthing problems by reducing work-in-progress
BUILDING BRIDGES - This month, we hear how addressing work-in-progress led a startup specialized in AI to productivity gains on their machine learning projects.
Building applications that really support the daily work
FEATURE – Technology should help people in their work, and it is with this in mind that the general manager of this car preparation center decided to learn to develop Apps.
Building quality into our code using the red bins system
BUILDING BRIDGES – In this article, we learn how a team of software developers leverages the lean concept of “red bins” to ensure the quality of the code they write.
Learn how 365 manages HR and accounting using visual boards
THE LEAN BAKERY – In the last episode of our video series, we learn how 365 is using an impressive visual management system to manage the accounting and human resources functions.
These developers learned what lean can do that agile cannot
FEATURE – In this article, we learn how a simple andon system and lean problem solving helped Theodo move past some of the most common obstacles that Agile alone can’t overcome.
Small batches and clever use of space for great flexibility
THE LEAN BAKERY – In this episode of our video series, we visit 365's super-lean workshop, where small batches and a clever use of space allow for unprecedented levels of flexibility in manufacture.
What this leader has learned in 40 years at Toyota Australia
PROFILE – What does one learn from working for Toyota over 40 years? This Australian leader has developed a unique holistic view, and a strong set of technical and social skills.
How we grew using less resources than ever before
THE LEAN BAKERY – In the fourth episode in our video series, the CEO of 365 explains how lean showed him that his business could grow (exponentially) without using any extra resources.
Drawing inspiration from a factory’s kaizens and dojos
BUILDING BRIDGES – This month, a CTO explains how his software company borrowed the kaizen spirit – and the idea of a dojo – from an avionics factory and put it to good use.