Category Archives: Lean thinking

Lean Thinking at United

Mark Graban gives a nice review of some material on web site of a United labor union in: An Encouraging Lean Example at United Airlines. From the union web site, he quotes: “Once fully implemented, the 5S+1 process can increase … Continue reading

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Flexibility in Lean Manufacturing

What is Flexibility for Lean Manufacturing? [the broken link was removed] by Jon Miller: True flexibility should be a measure not of a machining system or an assembly department but of an entire value stream from the end customer through … Continue reading

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Japan Kaikaku Experience

Mike Wroblewski is blogging a great series of posts on his Japan Kaikaku Experience, including Toyota Motor Kyushu: An interesting point is that the assembly line had a goal of only 97% uptime. They did not want 100%. It was … Continue reading

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Two more Lean Blog Podcasts

More excellent management podcasts from the Lean Blog: Part 2 of 2 with Dr. Liker, Lean Healthcare and Jamie Flinchbaugh on Muda. As Jamie explains the reason for talking about the seven wastes (muda) is the value added to waste … Continue reading

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Going Lean Brings Long-term Payoffs

Going lean brings long-term payoffs [the broken link was removed] by John Torinus: The growing number of Wisconsin manufacturers, and the few service companies, taking the lean journey are learning that it is not a sprint. … The immediate paybacks … Continue reading

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New Lean Blog: Lean Insider

A new lean blog, from Productivity Press, starts off with: The Low Rates of Lean Implementation [the broken link was removed]: In presenting the results during a recent Industry Week Webinar, Jane Biddle, VP of Global Manufacturing Research at Aberdeen … Continue reading

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More Lean Manufacturing Podcasts

Another resource is providing worthwhile lean manufacturing podcasts. The first of an eight video podcast series by Gary Conner [the broken link was removed] is available now. He is author of Lean Manufacturing for the Small Shop (Shingo Prize – … Continue reading

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Graban Interviews Liker

Another excellent podcast from the Lean Blog: Dr. Jeffrey Liker. Dr. Liker discusses the subtleties of doing actually doing lean versus talking about doing lean. Dr. Liker has authored: The Toyota Way, The Toyota Way Fieldbook and The Toyota Product … Continue reading

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Toyota Targets 50% Reduction in Maintenance Waste

Inside the Toyota Maintenance Reduction 50 Percent by Paul V. Arnold (sadly the site broke the link, so I removed it): First, it is Maintenance Reduction 50 Percent, not Cost Reduction 50 Percent or Employee Reduction 50 Percent. “The goal … Continue reading

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Lean Leaders

Lean leaders [the broken link was removed] by April Terreri: Tim Corcoran, vice president of ZF Sales & Services, NA, LLC, that re-manufactures automotive transmissions and steering systems in Vernon Hills, IL. “We had a number of false starts by … Continue reading

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