Lean Insight and Product Reviews
Kaizen, the philosophy of continuous improvement, can bring numerous benefits to organizations. However, many organizations need help to overcome the challenges of implementing Kaizen. In this article, we will explore common challenges faced during the implementation of Kaizen and provide strategies to overcome them, ensuring a smooth and successful journey towards continuous improvement. Strategies to…
Kaizen events, sometimes referred to as “Rapid Improvement Events” or “Kaizen Blitzes,” take place over a short period of time, usually a week or less. A Kaizen event is an action where the end result is to improve an existing process. A Kaizen event is a short-term effort to implement small, company wide improvements. A…
Gemba and kaizen go together like peanut butter and jelly. In Japanese, Gemba means “the actual place”. In kaizen, the phrase “Go to Gemba First” is often used. It means that you must go to where the action is or where the process is completed. It is the workbench, the sales meeting, production line, or…
Toyota defines Heijunka as the overall leveling, in the production schedule , of the volume and variety of items produced in given time periods and adds that it is a pre-requisite for just-in-time delivery. The basic Japanese translation of Heijunka, is “levelization.” Why Heijunka? Production leveling, as it is also referred to is essential to…
It’s nearly impossible to live your life without experiencing some form of failure. At some point if your life, you have more than likely failed at something. You can try to live cautiously and do only what’s necessary to avoid the risk of failure, but in the world of Lean, that is failure. To be…
As each day comes and goes we often find ourselves just going through the motions as a means to get through them. We wake up, go to work, come home, and repeat. It’s a cycle that’s tough to break and while it may seem robotic from the outside, to you it’s just another day. Unfortunately,…
If you were building a house and neglected to build the foundation first, chances are your home would crumble before long. Much can be said about Jidoka and the Toyota Production System (TPS). In fact, if we were to construct the TPS into a two pillar home, jidoka would be one of the pillars, with…
Coming up with the best design for your Lean facility is a task like no other. It’s takes more than skills and expertise to design a facility, especially one that emphasizes Lean philosophies. To construct a proper Lean layout, one must also add creativity to their skills and expertise to have success. It’s not a…
Value stream mapping is considered one of the most powerful visual tools in Lean. Regardless of the type of work you do, they can be an extremely useful part of your work and help eliminate waste, in areas you never knew waste existed. What is a Value Stream? A commonly used and basic definition of…
If you ever need a refresher course on investigative persistence just tell a toddler “no” when they really want something. While most adults are able to accept no for an answer, a toddler sees this as an opportunity for discussion and to find the real reason they were told no. How do they do this?…