The role of monetary rewards in lean systems is controversial. Some lean advocates oppose using monetary incentives, arguing that they are ineffective and counterproductive. Others see compensation ...

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The purpose of lean management is to sustain a lean production system. Without a lean management system, lean implementation often falters, sometimes fails, and virtually never delivers up to its long ...

Lean manufacturing centers around minimizing waste and reducing costs through automation and continuous improvements in operational efficiency. Lean manufacturing relies on integrated technological ...

Despite the common allegation that lean improvement methods, based on the Toyota production system, must lead to layoffs at hospitals or health systems, the reality is quite different at several ...

Picking up from last month’s discussion of the four principle elements of the Lean Management System, this month’s column will focus on the second element — visual controls. The four elements that ...

For many large and midsize manufacturers, the challenge of enabling the corporatewide enterprise resource planning (ERP) system to mesh with their lean initiatives on the plant floor requires a ...

The command-and-control hierarchical organization of large companies is rapidly giving way to a more biological metaphor, one in which a corporate nervous system senses important signals from the ...

In an era of economic unpredictability and tight margins, chief financial officers are under mounting pressure to do more with less. Nearly half of C-suite executives have considered budget cuts for ...

Many approaches to improving value in our health system focus on specific issues involving care delivery models such as optimizing primary care, coordinating care transitions, facilitating the care of ...