FEATURE - The editorial board members of Planet Lean reflect on the magazine's origin story and its role within and contribution to the Lean Community.
FEATURE – Reflecting on the recently published book by Nate Furuta, the author discusses the role that deep thinking plays in a problem-finding culture and warns us against ready-to-use solutions.
ROUND-UP – In his annual review of the best content we published, our editor looks back at 2022 and what this year was like for the Lean Community.
SERIES—The authors discuss Concepts, the second of six elements in their process development model, discovering the key knowledge gaps and exploring multiple process design options to facilitate learning.
INTERVIEW – PL meets the author of the recently published book Welcome Problems, Find Success, who discusses bringing lean to different cultures and changing managerial behaviors.
FEATURE – Based on his direct decades-long experience at Toyota, the author explains what it takes to establish problem-finding and a kaizen culture in new environments.
FEATURE – In the last article in his series, the author discusses how you can mix and combine the different pull systems available to the lean practitioner.
RESEARCH – The author reflects on several highly-ranked academic publications to paint a picture of salient lean knowledge, both past and present, and suggests several avenues for future lean research.
INTERVIEW – The authors of the new book The Power of Process debunk some of the most common myths about lean process development.
FEATURE – The authors discuss radical quality improvement at Toyota and introduce a new book by Sadao Nomura that the Lean Global Network has just co-published.
INTERVIEW – The former executive of the Toyota Material Handling plant in Italy reflects on how Sadao Nomura’s “Dantotsu” method helped them to drastically improve quality.
FEATURE – A leader’s creativity and care for her people can lead to extraordinary results even in the most challenging of environments. As the latest LGN book comes out, the author reflects on one of the most impressive lean transformations you will come across.
FEATURE – Lean book clubs as a way to boost learning and collaboration. A Norwegian firm that has been using them for a decade gives us a few tips on how to make them successful.
FEATURE – How reading lean books empowered people and transformed the managerial culture at an industrial bakery in the Western Cape Winelands in South Africa.
FEATURE – Through this intimate anecdote from her days at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky, the author tells us of her experience with standardization… and of the deep leadership lessons hiding behind it.
FEATURE – In May, the author told us how the IT department at Fuji Xerox Australia used book clubs to engage people in lean. In this update, he explains how the efforts were brought over to a different area of the business.
INTERVIEW – Twenty years ago a book started a movement that is growing stronger every day and that has changed the world in many ways. We caught up with the authors to sneak a peek behind the scenes.
FEATURE – It’s Lean Thinking week and to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the publication of the book, we have asked a few people from the lean community what it meant to them.
EDITOR'S LETTER – If you have missed any of our May articles, we come to the rescue with this monthly round-up of Planet Lean content, to provide you with the highlights and keep you up to date with the latest in lean thinking.
INTERVIEW – Does your company feel like a sand castle? Do you struggle to sustain lean results? At the recent Lean Transformation Summit, the CEO of Lantech told us how the firm is using daily management to prevent “deterioration”.
VIDEO – We constantly talk about the role of leadership, but perhaps we don't realize just how intertwined leadership transformation and business transformation really are. This short video discusses why.
CONTENT ROUNDUP - Happy New Year, readers! Before kicking things off for 2017 with new, original content, we wanted to share with you the Top 10 of the most-read Planet Lean articles from last year.
FEATURE ARTICLE - With 2015 drawing to an end, it's time to look back at the year that was and at the articles that our readers have enjoyed reading the most. So here is the Top 10 most read articles of 2015 on Planet Lean.
BOOK REVIEW – For our series of Q&As on recently published novel Lead With Respect, René Aernoudts shares what the key lessons learnt were for him.
BOOK EXCERPT – The city of Breda in the Netherlands has been on a lean journey for the past six years. Today we share an excerpt from the book The Lean Government, which sets the scene for the transformation.
FEATURE – Based on their experience supporting the stellar growth of Aramis Group, the authors discuss the role of leaders in shaping minds and behaviors and constantly challenging themselves to be the best example they can.
FEATURE – As her new book comes out, the author discusses how it is people who breathe life into an organization and how much a leader’s behavior can influence them.
INTERVIEW – Looking back at the time he spent at Toyota, Mark Reich reflects on his experience working with Nate Furuta and on his legacy exporting Toyota cultures around the world.
FEATURE - The author explains how a recent book on radical quality improvement in manufacturing inspired him to initiate similar experiments in his software development firm.
FEATURE – The Lean Global Network just published a new book by Kiyoshi “Nate” Furuta sharing compelling examples of how Toyota principles and culture can be effectively spread to new environments.
FEATURE – Improving supplier quality and reduce defects was an important part of Toyota Industries Corporation’s (TICO) Dantotsu activities since the very beginning. In this article, the author visits two parts suppliers.
FEATURE – As she gets ready to publish a book on her experience running Halfway Toyota Ngami, the author looks back at one of the best visuals the team implemented during the transformation.
FEATURE – Today we repurpose a great article published in 2016 on Japanese industry magazine Kojo Kanri that focuses on radical quality improvement at Toyota Industries Corporation.
FEATURE – Reflecting on Nomura-san’s recently published book on radical quality improvement, the author encourages us to embrace the spirit of “Dantotsu” to meet the challenges we face as a society.
FEATURE – In the third article in his series, Christoph Roser provides a practical guide to understand the most adequate pull system to your circumstances.
FEATURE – Before you decide which method to use to establish pull, you must consider a number of factors. Here’s the things you should be paying attention to.
FEATURE – Kanban is the best-known method to establish pull production, but it is not the only one. Here’s a few other ways you can create a pull system.
FEATURE – Have you ever wondered how lean tools and principles might apply to writing? To inspire you to document your learnings, our editor offers a guide for aspiring writers in our community.
INTERVIEW – In the fall of 1990, a book was published that would kickstart a revolution in business. This week we are catching up with the authors to understand where we are and where we are headed. First up, Daniel Jones.
INTERVIEW – Thirty years ago, a book introduced lean thinking to the world, started a global movement and transformed business forever. Our editor caught up with one of the authors.
ROUNDUP – In the last roundup on lean tools and concepts of the year, our editor collects and curates the best articles on strategy deployment (hoshin kanri).
FEATURE – As they progress on their lean journey, organizations need to learn to adjust their stance to the type of problem they face. Introducing his new book, the author offers precious tips on problem solving.
GETTING TO KNOW US – We continue our series of interviews with Lean Global Network directors with a Q&A with another veteran of the global lean movement, Poland’s Tomasz Koch.
FEATURE – A UK-based team of client services managers working for HR consultancy Mercer is using a virtual book club to take their first steps into the world of lean thinking.
INTERVIEW – In this Dutch university, lean is not only taught in the classroom. A3s are now replacing the writing of a thesis as the final assignment students are asked to complete.
THE LEAN BAKERY – In the second video in the series, we visit the stock-free workshop of one of 365's lean bakeries and learn about quality bread, customer focus and making lives easier for bakers.
FEATURE – Upon realizing they were struggling to engage people in continuous improvement, Fuji Xerox Australia’s IT team found a unique way to breathe new life into its lean efforts… a book club.
VIDEO - The author of Lean with Lean explains why he published a collection of papers rather than a business novel - his signature writing style - or a manual. Experience lean through the eyes of one of its greatest students... one a-ha moment at a time.
FEATURE – When lean seems to fail, leaders should persist and work even harder to bring people on the journey - by observing the situation, providing clear success criteria, and learning together on the job. That's what leading with lean is about.
FEATURE – When they realized their lean efforts had overlooked the crucial aspect of management behavior, AkzoNobel senior leaders turned to a great lean book for help with leadership development.
ONE QUESTION, FIVE ANSWERS – Inspiration can help us solve a problem, get our colleagues interested in lean, or even pick ourselves up after a failure. But where do we get it from? We asked five practitioners.
FEATURE - Planet Lean launched exactly one year ago. Editor Roberto Priolo offers some reflections and a round-up of the most popular articles we have published to date.
REVIEW - Michael and Freddy Ballé’s new novel, which came out this week, will help readers to understand what it really means to be a lean leader and respect people.
INTERVIEW - Are you a manager who needs to brush up on lean but has little time to do it? A new book by Cécile Roche comes to the rescue: A Little Lean Guide for the Use of Managers.
BOOK REVIEW - In the first of a series of Q&As on the recently published novel Lead With Respect by Freddy and Michael Ballé, Dan Jones explains why this book is a must-read.
