Lean

1685 Articles

Applying Lean at a Food Bank

By Ron Pereira - January 24th, 2011

** Updated Jan 13, 2017 ** It seems the original video linked in this blog article has been removed.  Not to worry, we found another great video for you to enjoy! ** Original Post Below ** Hat tip to my friend, and business partner, K

3rd Annual Management Blog Review 2 of 2: The Lean Thinker

By Jon Miller - January 20th, 2011

Mark Rosenthal has a lot to think about. For the past several decades he has seen companies struggle, fail and succeed at implementing lean thinking. He has played a role in the success at Boeing, Terex and Eastman-Kodak to name just a

Standardization Video

By Ron Pereira - January 16th, 2011

This video focuses on the extremely important topic of Standardization. It’s also the first video of Gemba Academy’s latest course focused entirely on the lean concept of Standard Work. To learn more about this Standard Wor

My Take on Lean and Six Sigma Certifications

By Ron Pereira - January 13th, 2011

A few days ago I posed the question about whether exam based lean six sigma certifications were legitimate or frauds. As usual, many of you came through with excellent thoughts and comments. Some of you supported the idea, others argu

The Best of LSS Academy – 2010 Edition

By Ron Pereira - January 4th, 2011

As we welcome 2011 with open arms I thought I’d take this opportunity to reflect back on the year that was. In 2010 LSS Academy grew far faster than I could have ever expected as we reached more than 11,000 subscribers. Thank you! An

Why Hoshin Kanri?

By Ron Pereira - January 3rd, 2011

In this article we’ll continue our hoshin kanri series. In part 1 of this series we learned what the words hoshin kanri mean… so be sure to check that out if you haven’t already. Let’s Set Some Objectives! As we start 2011 many

Vote “YES” for the American Innovator

By Ron Pereira - December 13th, 2010

Paul Akers and Jon Lussier are lean thinking business leaders I admire immensely. For the past year they have brought their energy and enthusiasm for lean and business to the AM radio show called The American Innovator. This show run

Hoshin Kanri: Steel, Needles, Tubes, and Logic

By Ron Pereira - December 6th, 2010

Hoshin Kanri. Have you heard of it? If you’ve been around the lean world you likely have. Well, over the coming weeks I plan to cover the highlights of what hoshin kanri is and how you and your organization might best leverage it. In

The “Lean Group” Syndrome

By Ron Pereira - October 18th, 2010

I had a recent discussion with a relative who works in a large Chicago based hospital. As it turns out, this particular hospital is attempting to use lean to improve their processes. During our discussion I could tell something wasn’

Blog Action Day: Water

By Jon Miller - October 15th, 2010

Most of us take water for granted. It is colorless, tasteless and runs within, on or around our bodies every moment of our lives. Water flows and forms around obstacles, freezes and cracks the hardest stone, evaporates and floats away

Hand Washing Conundrum… at a Major Coffee House

By Ron Pereira - October 12th, 2010

I was recently washing my hands inside an establishment that sells coffee. I am not big on calling companies out, especially companies trying to improve… which this company is. Anyhow, after I washed my hands I went to dry them.

Book Review: Kaizen Event Fieldbook

By Ron Pereira - October 8th, 2010

My friend, and fellow lean blogger, Mark Hamel has written one of the most thorough, and Shingo prize winning, lean workbooks I’ve ever read called Kaizen Event Fieldbook: Foundation, Framework, and Standard Work for Effective Even

Free Kaizen Training Video

By Ron Pereira - October 6th, 2010

Here is the first overview video of our latest Gemba Academy course we’re calling The Kaizen Way. My daughters even make an appearance! This new course is focused on all things kaizen – the kaizen event, suggestions systems

Join us for a Lean and Six Sigma Networking Party in the Seattle area!

By Ron Pereira - September 29th, 2010

Gemba Academy is sponsoring the next iSixSigma Live! Social and Networking Party in the Seattle/Bellevue area. If you live in this part of America please be sure to come out and say hi! Here are the details of the event. Join us for an

Lean Thinking and The Little Prince

By Jon Miller - September 28th, 2010

Sometimes life feels as hard as passing an elephant through a boa constrictor. French writer and aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupery (1900 – 1944) left us with a charming novella, The Little Prince. Perhaps opening this book again w

I Want to Be Like Benny

By Ron Pereira - September 27th, 2010

“Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.” ~Mother Teresa As I mentioned last week, my Dad is now recovering in a superbly run stroke rehab hospital. This particular hospital has many wonderful attributes. It’s cle

Is Too Much Money Worse than Too Little?

By Jon Miller - September 24th, 2010

An old friend of mine who has run a small construction company for decades reflected back on his career as he nears retirement, “If I’d been rich I think I would have done many bad things.” He was probably talking abo

We Have a Long Way to Go

By Ron Pereira - September 24th, 2010

My Dad recently suffered a devastating stroke… as such I traveled to see him this week. When I first arrived he was in a major hospital within a major city within a major country. Yes, I’m being vague so the political jun

10,000 Subscribers – THANK YOU!

By Ron Pereira - September 17th, 2010

I am not a big blog stats guy… I used to be.  I’d check how many people visited the blog every other hour of the day!  Eventually I realized how much time I wasted doing this! But one stat I do follow since, at least to m

There’s Nothing Fantastic About Being Good

By Ron Pereira - September 14th, 2010

I was recently flipping through one of my favorite lean books of all time, Taiichi Ohno’s Workplace Management. I often grab this book, open it up, and randomly read a page much like I do with the Bible. You see, for me, as with the

holding puzzle pieces

Energy Savings Kaizen: Switch on to Use

By Jon Miller - September 13th, 2010

This week we are leading a big group on a lean manufacturing study mission in Japan. We call it the Japan Kaikaku Experience because we learn from companies that have gone through or are still going through kaikaku , a lean business tr

Preparing Coffee

By Ron Pereira - September 9th, 2010

Last night, before I went to bed, I set my coffee maker up to start brewing at 5:45 AM.  I also placed my coffee mug and a spoon next to the coffee maker so I wouldn’t have to fumble about in the morning. This morning, around 6

A Day that Changed My Life Forever

By Ron Pereira - September 7th, 2010

It was early evening – around 7:00 PM. I was leaving the plant I was visiting that week and noticed a second shift operator preparing to start his day. I went over to say hi to the young man. He was a nice fellow… he had one of

Who’s Winning?

By Ron Pereira - September 2nd, 2010

I recently had the pleasure of having lunch with Rick Foreman. Rick frequently comments on this blog and many others. Rick is also extremely passionate about lean… he’s the sort of fellow that gets you all pumped up and ready to ma

A Major Announcement That You’ve Made Possible

By Ron Pereira - August 30th, 2010

My life changed – more than I could have ever imagined – Sunday evening, January 14, 2007. You see it was on this day that I wrote my first blog article. I remember wondering if anyone would read it? I actually just re-read

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