common lean mistakes

When a top exec becomes the lean manager

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OpinionSep 11, 2018
Jan Petko
OPINION – What happens when a senior executive jumps the fence and finds himself having to drive the very same change he was asking others to create?
strategy for success Boaz Tamir

Boaz Tamir on why success does not come down to chance

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ColumnsSep 7, 2017
Boaz Tamir
OPINION – The rise and fall of organizations does not depend on chance or bad luck. It generally stems from a fundamentally flawed strategic approach that fails to define a purpose, alienates workers and ignores customers.
preparation to avoid risk lean thinking

Identify objectives and issues before starting a new venture

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ColumnsAug 11, 2017
Boaz Tamir
COLUMN – With many of us about to leave for our summer vacations, the importance of planning (a holiday just like a business venture) could not be clearer. But objectives and potential problems should be identified before setting off.
Jim Womack daily management

What foils our ability to apply effective daily management

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Womack's YokotenFeb 28, 2017
Jim Womack
WOMACK'S YOKOTEN – Effective daily management is still hard to achieve for most organizations. But until line managers start tackling problems first hand as they emerge, rather than deferring and delegating them, basic stability will remain a mirage.
Wells Fargo scandal lean culture

The Wells Fargo scandal teaches us lean must be nurtured

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Opinion piecesOct 28, 2016
Boaz Tamir
OPINION – The latest banking scandal had us all wonder whether Wells Fargo has lost its way. But how does a pioneering bank that once had lean at its heart betray its core values so profoundly?
Unilever scandal cereal israel

The importance of transparency: lessons from a food scandal

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Opinion piecesSep 30, 2016
Boaz Tamir
OPINION – When do our mistake become an ominous sign that we are giving up on our customers and people? Following the salmonella contamination in cereals in Israel, the author reflects on business purpose and the importance of transparency.
one question idea learned sooner

Five lean practitioners answer the same question #5

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FeaturesSep 28, 2016
Planet Lean
ONE QUESTION, FIVE ANSWERS – With this month’s question we try to understand what lean idea or principle our interviewees would have liked to learn sooner or better in their journey. So, heads up… You might be in a similar situation.
lean in universities

Our universities are not teaching lean, and that’s a problem

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OpinionJun 10, 2016
Sérgio Caldeirinha
CALL TO ARMS – Despite the spread of lean principles across the world, only a handful of universities have included the methodology in their programs. This article is a call-to-arms telling us why we have an obligation towards future generations.
lean failure

The story of a lean transformation failure

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FeaturesJun 8, 2016
Dan Riley
FEATURE – Too often we tend to focus on trying to replicate success, rather than analyze failure. Yet, learning from mistakes is a fundamental principle in lean. This account of a transformation gone south offers an insightful critique of lean.
five practitioners one question mistake

Five lean practitioners answer the same question #1

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FeaturesMay 27, 2016
Planet Lean
FEATURE – For this new monthly article, we will be asking five lean practitioners the same question and share their answers with you. We started by asking them about their biggest lean mistake.
gemba seven sins

Michael Ballé on the gemba cardinal sins hindering kaizen

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FeaturesMay 5, 2016
Michael Ballé
FEATURE – What are the immediate signs that tell us that our workplace is not conducive to kaizen? The author draws on his experience as a coach at the gemba to highlight them. Look out for them in your own company!
UCC obeya

Making RFS possible – the lean implementation at UCC Coffee

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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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With more and more organizations (not just manufacturing firms) turning to automation to try and solve every-day problems, lean production offers an approach that gives the operators and their work the dignity they deserve. This idea is best expressed by the concept of the andon, a cord hanging above lean production lines that operators can pull whenever they encounter a problem they can’t solve right way (this is the base of the fundamental lean principles of jidoka, “automation with a human touch”). Lean is clearly an alternative to reckless management that considers people as mere capital.

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FeaturesFeb 11, 2016
Mark Brugmans with Arnoud Hoogeveen & Wiebe Nijdam
FEATURE – Repetitive flexible supply is a very effective method to level production scheduling, but as a FMCG company in the Netherlands found out, sometimes a number of conditions must be met before the approach becomes viable.
making IT part of the lean enterprise

Lean thinking to make a disastrous ERP rollout a success

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FeaturesJan 21, 2016
Klaus Petersen
FEATURE ARTICLE – Danish company Solar has applied lean management principles to the rollout of a new ERP system to gradually strengthen the ties between an isolated IT department and the rest of the organization.
machine that changed the world 25 anniversary

Jim Womack on what is holding lean thinking back

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Lean ManagementOct 27, 2015
Jim Womack
WOMACK’S YOKOTEN – On October 10, 1990 the book that introduced lean thinking to the world was published. Twenty-five years after Machine, one of the authors reflects on what the lean movement has achieved and on what is slowing it down.
sustainable lean LEI polska

What makes lean sustainable? Value creation and PDCA

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FeaturesSep 7, 2015
Malgorzata Jakubik & Robert Kagan
FEATURE ARTICLE – For the last article of their series, the authors ask themselves the ultimate question: who wins at lean, and who loses? What makes change sustainable? Turns out, it’s all about the fundamentals.

Six common problems you encounter during lean audits

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FeaturesAug 11, 2015
Malgorzata Jakubik & Robert Kagan
ARTICLE – Until “check” and “act” become a natural part of daily work, we will always need formal audits to keep people focused and to sustain results. Here’s a few tips to make them work.
womack column rewards

Why are rewards tied to individual performance so dangerous?

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Lean ManagementJul 28, 2015
Jim Womack
WOMACK’S YOKOTEN - When managed poorly and tied to the wrong performance metrics, financial rewards can seriously damage your organization, Jim Womack warns in his latest column.

How to make the most of the support provided by lean consultants

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FeaturesJul 14, 2015
Malgorzata Jakubik & Robert Kagan
ARTICLE – Most organizations rely on the support of lean consultants to bring their transformations forward, but how can they make the most of their expertise and knowledge?