Lean Roundup #187 – December 2024

A selection of highlighted blog posts from Lean bloggers from the month of December 2024.  You can also view the previous monthly Lean Roundups here.  

 

WSJ Shows Us a Day in the Life of a Plant Manager — Including Lean Practices – Mark Graban discusses fascinating article about Whirlpool Plant Manage Day in the Life offering valuable insights for anyone interested in operational excellence, leadership, and Lean thinking.

 

Why We Need Visual Management… - Christoph Roser talks about the need to go out, understand your shop floor, see the problems, see the target situation, and create a way from the current situation to the target situation to do kaizen.

 

What are the biggest obstacles to an effective and sustained Lean initiative? – Michael Sinocchi asks author Bill Artzberger to share the biggest obstacles to an effective and sustained Lean initiative.

 

Year-End: Why Is Reflection So Difficult? – Pascal Dennis explains the steps to an effective year-end reflection activity.

 

Unlocking the Secret to Success: Managing for Daily Improvement (MDI) – Alen Ganic discusses the steps, best practices, and pitfalls to avoid implementing successful daily management meetings.

 

The Timeless Power of Gratitude – Ron Pereira discusses how gratitude transforms how we see the world and how to practice gratitude.

 

5 Whys: A Simple Tool for Root Cause Analysis and Goal Setting – Jeff Roussel talks about the versatility of repeatedly asking “why” to uncover root causes, address underlying issues, and even clarify goals.

 

Why Operators Need to Measure Their Own Data! – Christoph Roser explains why self-measurement of process-related data makes it so much more likely that the data is used for improvement.

 

Hoshin vs. Chaos – Jim Womack reflects on the Toyota hoshin process he observed in 2018 and how it has led them to design a portfolio of countermeasures to navigate the industry's current chaos.

 

Santa’s Hoshin Objectives: Driving Strategic Alignment at the North Pole – LEI shares Santa's hoshin objectives to improve how North Pole, Inc delivers happiness to children around the globe.