Below, you will find the most important articles that were published on this site in 2013-2023
[ articles 2010-2012 ]
[ articles 2010-2012 ]
All forms of Agile use a cyclic approachAgile innovation and organization
September 19, 2023: category Agile |Agile methods make companies, as it were, fluid. This allows them to respond quickly to market changes. Agility can encompass two different things:
1. flexible and incremental development of new products
2. quick adaptation of the organisation itself.
Problem solving connects Lean with people
Toyota Production System vs Toyota Way
February 6, 2023: category Lean |The two most well-known ‘Lean improvement houses’ are the Toyota Production System (TPS) and the Toyota Way. The words system and way indicate how these relate: Toyota Production System is ‘what’ in Lean, Toyota Way is ‘how’.
February 6, 2023: category Lean |The two most well-known ‘Lean improvement houses’ are the Toyota Production System (TPS) and the Toyota Way. The words system and way indicate how these relate: Toyota Production System is ‘what’ in Lean, Toyota Way is ‘how’.
^ The power of a talking shop floor
Visual Management: Foundation to improve
September 13, 2022: category Lean |Almost anything can be visualised: a company mission, flow, work standards, problems, deviations, improvement actions, team work... Even thought processes!. Therefore: a talking shop floor is the best foundation for process improvement.
September 13, 2022: category Lean |Almost anything can be visualised: a company mission, flow, work standards, problems, deviations, improvement actions, team work... Even thought processes!. Therefore: a talking shop floor is the best foundation for process improvement.
^ Recipe for continuous improvement
6 + 3 ingredients for continuous improvement
April 05, 2022: category WorldClass |Based on hundreds of cases we developed a recipe, with six essential ingredients for continuous improvement. This basic recipe is however not sufficient. Three flavorings are needed, which prevent your menu to become less satisfying in time!
April 05, 2022: category WorldClass |Based on hundreds of cases we developed a recipe, with six essential ingredients for continuous improvement. This basic recipe is however not sufficient. Three flavorings are needed, which prevent your menu to become less satisfying in time!
^ Supply Chain Management at Shell
Shell optimizes (Lean) Supply Chains
September 20, 2021: category WorldClass |Factories of Shell require a fluctuating presence of people and materials. Just-in-time. However, planners, buyers and logistic managers did not work together well. About 2 years ago this started to change, as part of a new Shell Way.
September 20, 2021: category WorldClass |Factories of Shell require a fluctuating presence of people and materials. Just-in-time. However, planners, buyers and logistic managers did not work together well. About 2 years ago this started to change, as part of a new Shell Way.
^ The whole customer journey is important
What is customer value within Lean?
February 1, 2021: category Lean | A plea for perceived value as the new True North for Lean! It is equal to the benefits customers experience, minus their sacrifices. The weight of the pluses and minuses in the equation depends on the context. What do you offer, and how good are your competitors?
February 1, 2021: category Lean | A plea for perceived value as the new True North for Lean! It is equal to the benefits customers experience, minus their sacrifices. The weight of the pluses and minuses in the equation depends on the context. What do you offer, and how good are your competitors?
^ Isao Yoshino and Katie Anderson
Totoya Inside: Learning to Lead
September 24, 2020: category Lean | A prerequisite for Lean is that everybody continuously learns and reflects. Toyota leader Isao Yoshino explains this in Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn. In this book he reflects on his professional life. You learn that no one is perfect, not Yoshino and not Toyota!
September 24, 2020: category Lean | A prerequisite for Lean is that everybody continuously learns and reflects. Toyota leader Isao Yoshino explains this in Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn. In this book he reflects on his professional life. You learn that no one is perfect, not Yoshino and not Toyota!
^ Young swallows, ready to leave their nest
Activation energy for change
May 14, 2020: category Lead & Change | Resistance to change is a myth! It is only a signal that the mountain to be climbed is too high, is located at the wrong place, has to be conquered too quickly, or that the activation energy is insufficient! Is your company goal inspiring enough?
May 14, 2020: category Lead & Change | Resistance to change is a myth! It is only a signal that the mountain to be climbed is too high, is located at the wrong place, has to be conquered too quickly, or that the activation energy is insufficient! Is your company goal inspiring enough?
^ Production of the Toyota Yaris in France
14 misconceptions about Lean (2)
January 15, 2020: category Lean | The term Lean exists thirty years. Yet, there are still many misunderstandings regarding it! Do you think that without Toyota there would not have been Lean, that Lean makes work boring, or that Smart Industry and Agile fit in badly with it?
January 15, 2020: category Lean | The term Lean exists thirty years. Yet, there are still many misunderstandings regarding it! Do you think that without Toyota there would not have been Lean, that Lean makes work boring, or that Smart Industry and Agile fit in badly with it?
^ Nature achieves circularity via ecosystems
100% circular. Really?
August 21, 2019: category Lean | The weather becomes increasingly weirder and warmer. A world-wide transition to a circular economy is needed. However, a definition to measure the circularity of products and services is missing.
August 21, 2019: category Lean | The weather becomes increasingly weirder and warmer. A world-wide transition to a circular economy is needed. However, a definition to measure the circularity of products and services is missing.
^ A chain-wide Kaizen 2.0 team at Yusen
The chain-wide view of Yusen Logistics
April 17, 2019: category Lean | Kaizen 2.0, that is what Yusen Logistics calls continuous improvement with a supply chain-wide view! The Kaizen teams just need a simple Makigami-board, as attaining insight and connecting all supply chain partners with each other is the main goal.
April 17, 2019: category Lean | Kaizen 2.0, that is what Yusen Logistics calls continuous improvement with a supply chain-wide view! The Kaizen teams just need a simple Makigami-board, as attaining insight and connecting all supply chain partners with each other is the main goal.
^ Ford's moving production line in 1913
14 misconceptions about Lean (1)
February 14, 2019: category Lean | The term Lean exists thirty years. Yet, there are still many misunderstandings regarding it! Do you think Lean means producing in a One Piece Flow, that Lean is all about daily production kick-offs, or that Lean soon will become obsolete?
February 14, 2019: category Lean | The term Lean exists thirty years. Yet, there are still many misunderstandings regarding it! Do you think Lean means producing in a One Piece Flow, that Lean is all about daily production kick-offs, or that Lean soon will become obsolete?
^ SCM manages one stream, SCM 2.0 four
Supply Chain Management 1.0 & 2.0
October 01, 2018: category Lead & Change | Supply Chain Management 1.0 increases the flow of products. SCM 2.0 also encompasses the design of supply chains. It makes chains faster, cheaper, more innovative, more robust, more agile, more sustainable and more social.
October 01, 2018: category Lead & Change | Supply Chain Management 1.0 increases the flow of products. SCM 2.0 also encompasses the design of supply chains. It makes chains faster, cheaper, more innovative, more robust, more agile, more sustainable and more social.
^ Lean production at BWM in Munich
Kata and Einfachautomatiserung at BMW
June 05, 2018: category Lean | The Toyota Kata approach, with standardized coaching and improving behavior, was incorporated in BMW’s Value-added Production System. Hoshin Kanri and einfachautomatiserung are also important. Industrie 4.0 is helpful for the benefit of Lean.
June 05, 2018: category Lean | The Toyota Kata approach, with standardized coaching and improving behavior, was incorporated in BMW’s Value-added Production System. Hoshin Kanri and einfachautomatiserung are also important. Industrie 4.0 is helpful for the benefit of Lean.
^ Production planning with POLCA-cards
POLCA yes, or POLCA no?
April 25, 2018: category QRM | 20 years after Rajan Suri invented the high mix, low volume production control system POLCA, he publishes The Practitioner’s Guide to POLCA. In this article: Suri’s work in the area of Quick Response Manufacturing, a review of his book, our conclusions, and Suri’s response!
April 25, 2018: category QRM | 20 years after Rajan Suri invented the high mix, low volume production control system POLCA, he publishes The Practitioner’s Guide to POLCA. In this article: Suri’s work in the area of Quick Response Manufacturing, a review of his book, our conclusions, and Suri’s response!
^ Quick Response Planning
10 years Quick Response at Bosch Hinges
April 18, 2018: category QRM | Bosch Scharnieren (‘Bosch Hinges’) was the first in the Netherlands to implement Quick Response Manufacturing (QRM). ‘QRM divides your company in Quick Response Cells, supplying each other’, says CEO Fried Kaanen. ‘Next, you can reduce the waiting times.’
April 18, 2018: category QRM | Bosch Scharnieren (‘Bosch Hinges’) was the first in the Netherlands to implement Quick Response Manufacturing (QRM). ‘QRM divides your company in Quick Response Cells, supplying each other’, says CEO Fried Kaanen. ‘Next, you can reduce the waiting times.’
^ Picking with augmented reality glasses
One Piece Flow at KONI
January 16, 2018: category Lean | Gearing production activities perfectly to one another is not sufficient for production in One Piece Flow. Operators at KONI receive all the parts, information and tools, just-in-time. Software and augmented reality make this possible!
January 16, 2018: category Lean | Gearing production activities perfectly to one another is not sufficient for production in One Piece Flow. Operators at KONI receive all the parts, information and tools, just-in-time. Software and augmented reality make this possible!
^ City of sciences and arts, Valencia
The Scientific Method
June 19, 2017: category WorldClass | Lean, TOC, QRM, Six Sigma, TPM, Agile ... They all improve business processes by applying the scientific method: formulating a hypothesis, testing and continuously adjusting! However, there are big differences in focus and pace.
June 19, 2017: category WorldClass | Lean, TOC, QRM, Six Sigma, TPM, Agile ... They all improve business processes by applying the scientific method: formulating a hypothesis, testing and continuously adjusting! However, there are big differences in focus and pace.
^ Make-to-order assembly at Philips
The Lean transformation of Philips Lighting
February 15, 2017: category Lean | Enforcing a Lean transformation does not work. Instead, you should show the benefits! This is the conviction of Bart Evers, Lean deployment leader at Philips Lighting: ‘Seeing is believing, and believing is copying’.
February 15, 2017: category Lean | Enforcing a Lean transformation does not work. Instead, you should show the benefits! This is the conviction of Bart Evers, Lean deployment leader at Philips Lighting: ‘Seeing is believing, and believing is copying’.
^ Companies should be Lean and Agile
Lean and Agile are like Yin and Yang
November 21, 2016: category Lean | Being Agile, adapting rapidly, seems the opposite of Lean, improving continuously. However, Lean and Agile are like Yin and Yang. They are both based on the same principle: sense and respond.
November 21, 2016: category Lean | Being Agile, adapting rapidly, seems the opposite of Lean, improving continuously. However, Lean and Agile are like Yin and Yang. They are both based on the same principle: sense and respond.
^ Playful work environment at Springest
Holacracy at Springest: changing roles
August 10, 2016: category Lead & Change | Springest calls itself a Holacracy. They have no fixed positions. Roles, needed at a particular moment, are distributed among self-managing circles. Does this work? What is the resemblance with Lean and Scrum?
August 10, 2016: category Lead & Change | Springest calls itself a Holacracy. They have no fixed positions. Roles, needed at a particular moment, are distributed among self-managing circles. Does this work? What is the resemblance with Lean and Scrum?
^ The production site of Auping
Within Auping, everybody feels the customer
February 10, 2016: category Lean | At the bed specialist Auping, everywhere the customer is visible. Auping showed that it is possible to preserve the craftsmanship of a family business, while transforming to a Lean business!
February 10, 2016: category Lean | At the bed specialist Auping, everywhere the customer is visible. Auping showed that it is possible to preserve the craftsmanship of a family business, while transforming to a Lean business!
^ Prof. Hajime Yamashima visits Unilever
Unilever's holistic program for WCM
October 19, 2015: category WorldClass | Companies experienced with process improvement often say that they apply World Class Manufacturing (WCM). TPM, Lean and Six Sigma are then applied simultaneously, with one method as foundation. Unilever discovered a different, holistic WCM-program.
October 19, 2015: category WorldClass | Companies experienced with process improvement often say that they apply World Class Manufacturing (WCM). TPM, Lean and Six Sigma are then applied simultaneously, with one method as foundation. Unilever discovered a different, holistic WCM-program.
^ An enthousiastic self-steering team
The self-steering teams of Buurtzorg
May 06, 2015: category Lead & Change | The Dutch home care provider Buurtzorg has no managers. Small local teams decide what care matches best with their customers. Buurtzorg has a lot of Lean characteristics, but CEO Jos de Blok says that 'Lean is terrible'. How come?
May 06, 2015: category Lead & Change | The Dutch home care provider Buurtzorg has no managers. Small local teams decide what care matches best with their customers. Buurtzorg has a lot of Lean characteristics, but CEO Jos de Blok says that 'Lean is terrible'. How come?
^ Truck assembly at Scania
Value Stream Mapping
January 12, 2015: category Lean |For breakthroughs with Lean manufacturing you need a strategic vision. You need to make a so-called future state value stream map (FSVSM), for each family of products or services that your company delivers.
January 12, 2015: category Lean |For breakthroughs with Lean manufacturing you need a strategic vision. You need to make a so-called future state value stream map (FSVSM), for each family of products or services that your company delivers.
^ Visual Management in the QROC
Virupa breaks the Response Time Spiral
September 02, 2014: category QRM | Virupa Visual Solutions experienced significant growth in the last twenty years. However the work in progress, backlogs and rush orders to 'fight fires' increased. Virupa replaced their office departments with Quick Response Office Cells.
September 02, 2014: category QRM | Virupa Visual Solutions experienced significant growth in the last twenty years. However the work in progress, backlogs and rush orders to 'fight fires' increased. Virupa replaced their office departments with Quick Response Office Cells.
^ Frederic Laloux and his book
Organizations, agile like soccer teams
June 23, 2014: category Lead & Change |Do workers need bosses and targets, or can they manage themselves? Can a company be organized like a soccer team? In his book Reinventing Organizations Frederic Laloux studied 12 organizations that rely to a large extent on self-management!
June 23, 2014: category Lead & Change |Do workers need bosses and targets, or can they manage themselves? Can a company be organized like a soccer team? In his book Reinventing Organizations Frederic Laloux studied 12 organizations that rely to a large extent on self-management!
^ Packaging line for Nutrilon baby food
Operators like Sherlock Holmes at Danone
April 22, 2014: category TPM |By monitoring the Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), it is precisely known when problems occurred. Yet, as Danone discovered, the current reporting methods are not adequate enough to determine the root cause of these problems!
April 22, 2014: category TPM |By monitoring the Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), it is precisely known when problems occurred. Yet, as Danone discovered, the current reporting methods are not adequate enough to determine the root cause of these problems!
^ Factory lay-out of Océ (Canon) before Lean The durable Lean transformation of Océ
Januari 8, 2014: category Lean |Lean can be implemented in a technical way. Guus Cox, operations manager at Océ, compares this with using a bulldozer to push the waste out of the factory. This gives fast but temporary results, because the behavior of the people does not change.
Januari 8, 2014: category Lean |Lean can be implemented in a technical way. Guus Cox, operations manager at Océ, compares this with using a bulldozer to push the waste out of the factory. This gives fast but temporary results, because the behavior of the people does not change.
^ A problem! An 'Andon' hastens to help Scania's structure for continuous improvement
May 29, 2013: category Lean | To stay ahead of the competition, Scania Zwolle Production raised its productivity with about 6% every year in the past period. Self-managing Lean teams turned out to be not enough. The workforce also needs resources and structure.
May 29, 2013: category Lean | To stay ahead of the competition, Scania Zwolle Production raised its productivity with about 6% every year in the past period. Self-managing Lean teams turned out to be not enough. The workforce also needs resources and structure.
^ Assembly cells at Harley-Davidson Customer-specific production with QRM
March 01, 2013: category QRM | Quick Response Manufacturing (QRM): The faster your production chain, the better! To that end, you should transform your entire supply chain, by creating loosely connected Quick Response Cells, each handling groups of similar tasks.
March 01, 2013: category QRM | Quick Response Manufacturing (QRM): The faster your production chain, the better! To that end, you should transform your entire supply chain, by creating loosely connected Quick Response Cells, each handling groups of similar tasks.
^ Lean R&D is like tuning a car Add maximum value during R&D
January 7, 2013: categorie Lean | Lean companies improve by successive logistic experiments. Eric Ries, author of The Lean Startup, states startups should apply a similar approach. What is called go and see in lean – visit the place where the real work is done – is replaced by launch and see.
January 7, 2013: categorie Lean | Lean companies improve by successive logistic experiments. Eric Ries, author of The Lean Startup, states startups should apply a similar approach. What is called go and see in lean – visit the place where the real work is done – is replaced by launch and see.
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