Lean Challenge Challenge Your Lean Thinking

When we talk about continuous improvement—sometimes referred to by the Japanese term kaizen—we often discuss it in the context of the workplace. We think about ways that process such as assembling parts, organizing the workspace, or communicating with coworkers can be improved. An article in this month’s issue of the New Yorker titled “Getting Better at Getting Better” examines the way that many parts of our lives, not just the workplace, have continuously improved over the past century. The skill levels ...

Improving and Implementing Safety Lean Manufacturing When people look at facility improvement opportunities they often look at process improvement methodologies, such as Lean Manufacturing. Another thing that is commonly reviewed is facility safety improvements. In many cases, however, they don’t see that using lean manufacturing techniques can often also provide safety improvements. Thinking about safety lean manufacturing will allow you to make improvements throughout your facility in a way that will not only reduce waste and increase profitability, but also ...

A recent article at EHS Today explains how a Toyota plant that manufactures forklifts in Columbus, Ind., makes safety a part of daily life. The facility refers to its safety system as K-HYP, which standards for “kaizen” (continuous improvement) and “How’s your process?” At the facility, safety is a topic of discussion at morning meetings, and each employee is given the opportunity to write down safety issues. Then managers meet with workers that morning to discuss the reported problems. By bringing ...

Mark Graban over at Lean Blog recently wrote about a GE Capital TV commercial that includes the Lean turnaround process in a factory. Graban said: In the 60-second piece, GE highlights how their advisors helped a manufacturing company double efficiency by using Lean methods and by asking “the important question – why?” What happened? “Ideas for improvement started pouring out.”  The ad shows how changes in the workplace can happen in a real-world setting and it focuses attention on Lean. Read ...

Basic Overview of Kanban Learning about Kanban can be a great way to help improve just about any production process. While the word may sound odd to most people, the processes involved have been proven effective for nearly half a century. The concept was first developed at Toyota, and has now been accepted by thousands of companies as a best practice for logistic controls. The word Kanban is Japanese and means billboard or signboard. It gets this name from the ...