Lean Smarts Podcast: Lean Manufacturing | Leadership Lean Smarts Podcast: Lean Manufacturing | Leadership

It's too easy to "go to the gemba" and only go through the motions without gaining deep insight into the real production conditions. So in this episode Daniel shares the second half of 10 best practices, tools, and tips to take your gemba game to the next level. To download all ten best practices as a one-page reference, go to leansmarts.com/gembatools.

It's too easy to "go to the gemba" and only go through the motions without gaining deep insight into the real production conditions. So in this episode Daniel shares the first five of 10 best practices, tools, and tips to take your gemba game to the next level. To download all ten best practices as a one-page reference, go to leansmarts.com/gembatools.

Your ability to make informed decisions and effectively problem-solve and improve depends largely on your knowledge of the gemba. But here's the thing: just "going to the gemba" and paying it a visit isn't enough! It is very easy to go through the motions without getting the intended results. So in this episode we explain what the gemba is, why visiting it isn't enough, and how the true practice of going to the gemba is more like meditation and "thinking with your whole body" vs. just your brain at a distance.

It is unfortunately pandemic: many organizations struggle to "go lean" because of a handful of common foundation problems. One we see often when working with clients is a lack of teamwork. Be careful with this! Even though your production teams may say they are "like family," that does not mean they are performing as a world-class team. In this episode Daniel shares six characteristics of high-performing production teams.

Leaders are invaluable to the health and effectiveness of your lean organization. You MUST have enough of them for your management system to function AND for you to effectively grow and develop people. In this episode we give five reasons why you may need more leaders at your organization. We also offer a simple recommendation for how to increase the quantity of leaders at your company in a way that is financially feasible and reasonable.

Many lean implementation efforts have failed for either of two reasons. 1. Individual tools are cherry-picked and implemented individually without understanding that lean tools function together as an integrated system. 2. Or, lean is viewed only as a technical set or tools and the role of people and their behavior is forgotten or neglected. In this episode we explain the complexity of lean systems in simple terms. We talk about biology, technology, and even cyborgs in establishing the systems-nature of lean manufacturing.