Establishing Lean Culture

Moving the Culture Forward - Stay the course with Lean

In the beginning steps of your lean journey, not everyone will be on board and wal...

Continue Reading...
From Kaizen to Continuous Improvement

Kaizen Kickoff Complete! But now what?

So you are fully committed to your lean implementation and there is nothing that is going to get in ...

Continue Reading...
How to Launch Lean Manufacturing

The Lean ROIĀ 

Lean plants are safer, produce higher quality products, ship product on-time and produce at lower costs than non-lean plants....

Continue Reading...
The Value of a Value Stream Map (VSM)

What is a value stream? A value stream is the flow of all information and materials used to create customer value. This "value" could be a f...

Continue Reading...
How to do the MUDA Walk

Lean Manufacturing identifies 8-types of waste. These wastes in lean terms areĀ called MUDA, a Japanese word meaning "wasteful". A MUDA walk ...

Continue Reading...
Exploring Our Industrial Heritage: Introduction

Tools for the Trenches is setting out on a journey to explore our industrial heritage. Manufacturing has been my career home for over 40 yea...

Continue Reading...
Six-Sigma: A Grassroots Explanation

Six-sigma is a popular buzz word in plants, but do you understand the basics of what it means?Ā  The grass roots explanation of six-sigma is ...

Continue Reading...