“Lean in the Oil Fields”, Ric Van Der Linden

Lean Manufacturing 2007 We have all heard stories about the great results possible when lean techniques and culture are applied to manufacturing and assembly.  Though we hear less about lean in the service industry, lean concepts are being successfully applied there, and results are showing.  The oil fields are one area that has taken on […]

Walking Through Lean History

As you probably know, I like to walk through the gemba, along the value stream, to see for myself how value is being created and how waste can be eliminated. However, recently I took a wonderful but dismaying walk through a facility that no longer creates value. The experience set me thinking about the history […]

A Manager’s Guide To Implementing Lean

One of the earliest American converts to the lean production system that originated in Japan was George Koenigsaecker, who eventually deployed the technique at Jake Brake in the 1980s. At the time, the concept was not known as lean, but as just-in-time production, developed by Taiichi Ohno and a small team of zealots at Toyota. […]

Toyota’s success pleases proponents of ‘lean’

By Del Jones, USA TODAY A cheer went up last week because Toyota (TM) sold more cars and trucks than General Motors (GM). The cheer obviously did not erupt from the U.S. auto industry. Rather, it came from the industry of experts and consultants who sell the no-waste business regimen known as lean manufacturing, a […]

Toyota’s success pleases proponents of ‘lean’

By Del Jones, USA TODAY A cheer went up last week because Toyota (TM) sold more cars and trucks than General Motors (GM). The cheer obviously did not erupt from the U.S. auto industry. Rather, it came from the industry of experts and consultants who sell the no-waste business regimen known as lean manufacturing, a […]

A Manager’s Guide To Implementing Lean

One of the earliest American converts to the lean production system that originated in Japan was George Koenigsaecker, who eventually deployed the technique at Jake Brake in the 1980s. At the time, the concept was not known as lean, but as just-in-time production, developed by Taiichi Ohno and a small team of zealots at Toyota. […]

Walking Through Lean History

As you probably know, I like to walk through the gemba, along the value stream, to see for myself how value is being created and how waste can be eliminated. However, recently I took a wonderful but dismaying walk through a facility that no longer creates value. The experience set me thinking about the history […]

“Lean in the Oil Fields”, Ric Van Der Linden

Lean Manufacturing 2007 We have all heard stories about the great results possible when lean techniques and culture are applied to manufacturing and assembly.  Though we hear less about lean in the service industry, lean concepts are being successfully applied there, and results are showing.  The oil fields are one area that has taken on […]