Nowadays, there are countless technological means available to organizations so that they can manage, carry out, follow up, and improve their processes at all levels. However, investment in technology does not always guarantee the success expected by the organization, or even worse, sometimes hinders its operations and development.
The Japanese manufacturing sector has been making a positive contribution to Japan’s Covid-19 mass vaccination program. Find out how the sector applied its lean process management capabilities to help better manage the mass vaccination program to achieve a positive outcome in the public health sector.
Japan offers significant business opportunities. Having prior knowledge about the national and business culture can help improve your prospects for building successful long-term business relationships. Find out the two fundamental cultural concepts you should know before doing business with Japan.
Society nowadays puts too much emphasis on the importance of being excellent. But, many of us are under too much pressure and some choose to be “mediocre” while others may even feel uncomfortable with the idea of pursuing excellence altogether. When leaders find themselves dealing with this type of thinking in promoting lean within their organization, how should they approach lean buy-in across their organization?
Lean leader Akinori Hyodo delivered a commemorative seminar to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the founding of the Business Efficiency Association in Latvia on 7th April 2021, on the topic of how the lean leader motivates employees to sustain the lean journey.
Nowadays, all good results obtained in terms of safety, quality, productivity and delivery seems to be linked to lean implementation. Whilst the implementation of lean methodologies has positive potential, there are a large number of companies that fail to establish a lean culture. This article explores the purpose of lean transformation and how it impacts organizations that set out on a lean implementation journey.
Lean management and Toyota Production System principles offer excellent and practical process management ideas and tools for anyone who wishes to improve their productivity and operational efficiency. This article presents an inspiring story of a young professional photographer’s lean business transformation and how he has refined his operations through the application of TPS methods to achieve considerable benefits.
Japanese manufacturers have been systemically synchronising the value stream processes for decades to target cost reductions, improve quality and reduce lead times to customers. The team at Shinka Management has had a long and close relationship with the best of Japanese manufacturing. Our strong relationships enables us to see and work with high calibre organisations that use forms of value stream mapping to gain a complete understanding of their operations.
We all know team leaders play an important role within a manufacturing shop floor in shaping the team’s effectiveness. However, specific roles and responsibilities given to a team leader are often different from company to company. So, how does Toyota approach this? What is the role of a team leader within a Toyota final assembly plant? These very questions are answered by Toyota lean management guru Hyodo-sensei.
The Virginia Mason Medical Center is based in Seattle, Washington. Since the Virginia Mason leadership’s first visit to Japan in 2002 to seek insights from Japanese manufacturing, the hospital has evolved into a leader in the application of lean principles to health care. Dr Kaplan and Dr Otero, the two key figures behind the Virginia Mason’s successful lean transformation, provide insights that holds lessons for any of us seeking to lead effective transformation and culture change within our own organizations.
