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.

Words: Roberto Priolo, Editor, Planet Lean

This has been a fantastic year for Planet Lean.

Since January 1st, we have published over 110 articles - in the form of case studies, features, columns, interviews and research papers - and expanded our coverage of lean thinking and practice to include new sectors and topics.

We have taken you to 25 countries (and to every continent in the world) to meet the practitioners who, through their hard work and determination, are applying lean every day and taking their organizations to the next level. From hospitals in Tanzania to restaurants in China, from government departments in the United Kingdom to NGOs in the United States, from prostheses manufacturers in Iceland to refugee camps in Lebanon, the stories we have shared with you are testament to the extraordinary inroads that lean has made over the past 25 years.

This year we have also shared with you the voices and stories of organization leaders that we have found inspiring (from Margarette Purvis of the Food Bank For New York City to Richard Sheridan of Menlo Innovations, not to mention our new section of leaders' profiled). More than anything we have tried to challenge you to think of lean as an alternative approach to managing and transforming an organization by sharing the best gemba-based experiences we have come across and hands-on advice you can use in your daily work.

Finally, 2015 has also been a year of great contributions for Planet Lean. We were thrilled to have Jim Womack join our stable of writers with his insightful and thought-provoking Yokoten column, and to provide a platform to established writers/thinkers (from Michael Ballé to Dan Jones, Jeff Liker, John Toussaint and Orry Fiume) as well as to newer voices in the lean community (from a Finnish lean CIO to Malgorzata Jakubik and Robert Kagan of our Polish institute, with their Hazards on the road to lean articles).

But as we know, the only opinion that really matters is that of customers (in our case, readers)...

So, without further ado, here's the list of the 10 most read article on Planet Lean in 2015.

• 10. Using 3P Design for Better Hospitals, by Gary Prior

• 9. Understanding Standardization, for Real, by Malgorzata Jakubik and Robert Kagan

• 8. Playing with Lean, by Joakim Hillberg

• 7. Ten (or Eleven) Lean Values to Live By, by Michael Ballé

• 6. Management on the Mend, John Toussaint

• 5. Winning over the Anchor-Draggers, by Jim Womack

• 4. Don't "Defeat" Your Customers (and Yourself), by Jim Womack

• 3. Invest in People, Boost Growth, by Jonathan Escobar, Dave Hanna and Jeff Liker

• 2. Lean Child O' Mine, by Torbjørn Netland

• 1. Strategy-Driven Daily Management, by José Ferro and Robson Gouveia

Editor's pick: I also recommend you don't miss Orry Fiume's recent article Can ROI and Lean Co-Exist? and our video case study on the Garraf hospital in Barcelona.

I would like to thank you my editorial board for their guidance and help, and all our readers for supporting Planet Lean this past year. I encourage you all to provide feedback and tell us what you would like to see improved or changed, on the site and in the content. Also, if you have any requests for specific topics you'd like us to cover on Planet Lean, please write them in the comments below and we will do our best to include them in the 2016 editorial calendar.

In the meantime, let me and the rest of the Planet Lean team wish you a relaxing and happy holiday season.

Till next year...

Roberto Priolo

Editor, Planet Lean