It’s really no wonder that manufacturing workers’ initial reaction to lean reformations is discomfort. First, the term itself implies that things will get slimmer, and workers often think that means their own ranks, not just the processes involved in production...
A recent conversation with a vice president at Schneider Electric, Square D’s parent company, got me to thinking about the value corporations place on their assets, from the plant floor equipment that helps run their processes to the workers who clock in every day to oversee those processes...
China is running the manufacturing sector around Beijing as lean as possible in advance of the Olympics Games, which begin this Friday. The government isn’t pushing kaizen or deploying lean consultants line-side; they’re simply shutting down factories...
A Promise to Workers Fulfilled
The global market for auto sales has dealt most carmakers a body blow this summer. At Toyota, it has scored a combination, and the venerated lean pioneer actually leaned into the barrage by choice...