Who Has Permission to Change Standards?
"At Toyota (like most other manufacturers), there are certain standards (safety, equipment settings, quality tests, etc.) which are determined and set by various professionals. The question comes up, how can…
Who “owns” Standardized Work?
"Toyota does not want individual employees to 'own' their standardized work, and uses job rotation so no one employee owns any one job.… Once the process is operating at some…
The key to “begin continuous improvement”
"The establishment of standardized processes and procedures is the greatest key to creating consistent performance. It is only when the process is stable that you can begin the creative progression…
How to Make Improvement Possible
"Accordingly, training underscores a perpetual cycle: perform standardized work, encounter variation, conduct problem solving, set a new standard, train everyone to the new standard, and perform to the new standard.…
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…
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…
Does Lean Align with a Christian Worldview?
Does Lean line up with the Bible's teaching? Is it consistent with the Christian Faith? These were my questions when I first learned of Lean in 2007. I was cautious…
The Power of a Great Team
"Your team is far more important to achieving excellence than any new technology and likely more important than brilliant product ideas. We agree with Ed Catmull, computer scientist and president…