Definition of “Standardized Work”
"By "standardized work," we are referring to the most efficient and effective combination of people, material, and equipment to perform the work that is presently possible. "Presently possible" means it…
Standardized Work: Baseline for Improvement
"Standardized Work is a concept that is often misunderstood in the context of the lean journey. Many times we have heard the comment that standardized work is going to make…
Flow: Challenging People to Think and Improve
"Toyota's vision of any process is true one-piece flow that is waste-free. Creating flow means linking together processes that otherwise are disjointed. When operations are linked together, there are opportunities…
Unbelievable
"The benefits of the conversion to Lean production are typically unbelievable to someone who has not experienced the change firsthand." Lean Production- The Challenge of Multidimensional Change by George Koenigsaecker,…
Lean is a Superior Business Approach
"We should note that a Lean strategy is a superior business approach: it clearly delivers dramatic advantages tracked by conventional measures such as cycle times and defect rates, use of…
“Co-destiny”…What Is It?
"…successful organizations must develop a sense of 'co-destiny.' A key leadership responsibility is to establish a sense of common purpose and enroll the enterprise in its pursuit. Although individual talents…
You Get what you Challenge
"There is a famous saying, 'You get what you measure.' It may be more appropriate to say, 'You get what you challenge.' Teams will respond to challenges if they are…
The Ultimate Competitive Advantage: Teamwork
“Not finance. Not strategy. Not technology.It is teamwork that remains the ultimate competitive advantage,both because it is so powerful and so rare…If you could get all the people in an…
When People Point out a Problem
"None of us like to see reality when it's unpleasant or disappointing; all of us are guilty, at least to some degree of wanting rose-colored glasses. This is not an…
Lean = Learning Together
"The breakthrough thinking that Lean offers is that of better individual competence and better teamwork. This means taking responsibility when things go wrong (as they do daily) and not explaining…