Category: Lean

The gold rush of generative AI and autonomous agents is upon us. As such, we need to take a closer look at things like transparency and accountability, at least when considering who has ownership of the outputs of these digital tools. Corporations have realized that AI can speed up productivity, making for thousands of lines […]

When conducting process improvement, Root Cause Analysis is a physical, human-centric exercise. It involves stakeholders standing around a whiteboard, drawing Ishikawa diagrams, and asking the Five Whys until a human or mechanical point of failure is found. However, the nature of work has shifted as more industries are embracing automated workflows. Processes aren’t a string […]

Lean Six Sigma often evokes the image of a war room of sorts: a physical space with whiteboards, sticky notes, and a group of practitioners huddled over a Value Stream Map. There has been a shift of sorts in the workplace, and subsequently these sorts of spaces are falling out of fashion. Our workforces are […]

When an organization or group is looking to roll out a Lean Six Sigma program, it’s a good reminder to consider that this combines two very powerful process improvement methodologies. No matter the industry, Lean will play its role as it looks to reduce overall waste, while Six Sigma focuses heavily on reducing variation.  Combining […]

Originating from the Japanese term “Gembutsu,” “Gemba Walk” is essentially a lean management practice that has an organization’s leadership visiting the “actual place” where work is done. This might be a factory or an office, but the goal is to give company leadership an inside view of how things are going, as well as enabling […]

When most people stop and think about what the Lean methodology is doing in the real world, it’s often viewed as a step-by-step approach to a problem. This means that a company is taking incremental steps toward a fix that is usually the result of identifying a wasteful aspect of its business operations or manufacturing. […]

Are you making use of legal Lean at your law firm? It might seem counterintuitive at first glance, but there is some serious potential when it comes to using the methodology for streamlining your legal processes. It takes some adaptation, sure, but like any methodology, you’re going to be tailoring it to better suit the […]

Any instance in which Lean and Six Sigma are matched, like in areas like healthcare, you know there is going to be some major changes taking place. With the Six Sigma methodology already capable of making sweeping changes across different industries like healthcare, it was only a matter of time before Lean Six Sigma began […]

In the world of business methodologies and project management, Lean has quickly become one of the most focused and popular. Based on the history of Japanese manufacturing techniques, Lean thinking is a concept that can be applied to various industries worldwide with outstanding success. The best part is that Lean thinking is a proven system […]

The world of cybersecurity and data management rarely stays still, but that doesn’t stop some organizations from relying on large, sweeping initiatives, usually following an audit. This might see organizations making changes based on a quarterly audit, rolling out tools gradually, and seldom taking the time to practice breach or incident response. That’s fine for […]

In today’s fast-paced environment, it doesn’t matter if you are the head of an IT desk or someone who works in customer support. Incidents can and will happen. Whether it’s a system crash that impacts inventory management or an angry customer call over a refund or return, these things can snowball and escalate if they […]

Recently, many organizations have started name-dropping Lean, with the notion being that it helps to reduce cycle times, lowers inventory levels, and leads to improved throughput as a matter of course. However, these organizations aren’t sticking to the principles and teaching, and as such, fail to sustain gains or deliver value to customers time and […]

Security operations centers (SOC) are under a great deal of pressure. Threats continue to evolve and change, with attacks growing more sophisticated, and bad actors getting more refined in their deployment of such attacks. Despite the prevalence of cutting-edge tools and skilled, trained analysts, many security operations centers will struggle with dealing with inefficient practices […]

When looking at modern markets, speed is relentless. Customer demand means shorter development cycles, faster product launches, and fierce competition. That said, customers expect quality as well, not just speed. In turn, this has led to organizations seeing reliability and performance soar. The tension found between speed and quality isn’t a paradox, but rather a […]

For modern manufacturing, efficiency and precision are just part of the equation when it comes to profitability. That said, despite the technologically advanced production environments we see in manufacturing, defects and rework are still a pressing concern. Both can erode profit margins, delay deliveries, and test customer trust. As such, manufacturers are asking themselves what […]

Have you wondered how some of the best-known startups have scaled up so efficiently? There is a pretty good answer to this question, and it’s generally through Lean Methodology. Companies that have embraced this methodology worldwide have given rise to a whole new way for entrepreneurs to scale their businesses early in their development. Whether […]

Few things will send a customer to the competition faster than waiting. Whether it’s a client on hold with customer support, someone waiting on a delivery, or even a patient sitting in a doctor’s office, waiting represents one thing: inefficiency. The modern era is a fast-paced, high-tempo environment, and expectations are shaped by […]

Few industries require the same sort of precision, efficiency, and need for continuous improvement as automotive manufacturing. Building vehicles at any sort of scale is a massive undertaking involving thousands of parts, a network of suppliers, and assembly lines running around the clock. The global market isn’t exactly forgiving when it comes to […]

Manufacturers are facing uncertain economic conditions, which result in a paradoxical problem: costs are rising across the board, but customers haven’t tempered their expectations when it comes to quality, price, and delivery speed. Manufacturers have a fair amount of pressure on them these days, and the usual standbys of cutting corners through the […]

In the rapidly evolving world of cybersecurity, threat detection has become a vital need and a persistent challenge. Companies face a deluge of unrelenting alerts with intrusion detection systems and endpoint monitoring solutions, creating an environment that makes it difficult to distinguish real threats from false positives. False positives act as a drain […]

It should go without saying that there are fans of both Lean and Agile in manufacturing, and for all the right reasons. Both of these business processes are well-loved in various circles for reasons that have been shown to work across hundreds, if not thousands, of businesses over the past few decades. The […]

Theory of Constraints vs. Lean: what’s better for optimizing processes and increasing profitability? I’ll admit that these are two wholly distinct and separate methodologies for use in any workplace. That said, you’ll often find some crossover between the two, especially where the notion of process improvement comes into play. Understanding the synergy and more varied […]

One of the biggest considerations for any medical facility is not just how to get patients seen with care, but how to get them in and out as fast as possible. The good news is that increasing patient flow isn’t mutually exclusive with patient care; it’s more about helping patients get seen as […]

Lean and Agile make for a potent combination when considering any cybersecurity operations. When taking a look at these two disparate methodologies, you’d be forgiven for thinking they might be ill-suited for building a culture of security. That said, finding the synergies between the two enables a more resilient, efficient organization that readily […]