In our work with organisations and people embarking on the Lean Transformation Journey we often hear people say that “buy-in” by top management is an essential success factor. Indeed, research confirms that top management commitment is a critical success factor for...

“It is impossible to overestimate the importance of 5S,” he said. “Really?” I asked myself. The CEO of a major Japanese process improvement consultancy told me this in 1992, in Nagoya. What do you think? Is it that significant in driving improvement and the ‘Kaizen...

The CEO of a hospital in Johannesburg looks back to the last five years to reflect on a lean healthcare transformation that is creating positive outcomes for patients. The South African healthcare industry must look after 53.7 million people, 84% of them in the public...

Our Chairman, UCT Graduate School of Business Emeritus Professor, Norman Faull, will be one of the judges of the African Kaizen Awards (AKA) Examination Committee. The Awards are part of the African Kaizen Conference 2019, organised by JICA and NEPAD, taking place in...

COLUMN – In her first column, the author reflects on the role of leadership in striking a balance between the enthusiasm for change and the need to involve everyone in a transformation. Words: Rose Heathcote, CEO, Lean Institute Africa I had a terrific time this past...

Is there any principle more core to the heart of lean than relentlessly focusing on the customer? How many companies have strayed from customer focus as their strategic North Star? Who cannot tell at least one story of poor customer service, irritating chatboxes,...

Atlantis Foundries was able to achieve zero defects for three months in a row thanks to machine learning. Here's why the human component can't be discounted. Cape Town is sometimes called the “Silicon Valley of South Africa”. Yet, it was a pleasant surprise to learn...

For a while I have been thinking about the possible impact of using the name Lean to describe the activities or programme to transform an organisation into the new way of working and thinking. It felt serendipitous then, that shortly after pondering this I came across...

Try telling a friend you have come across some ‘magical thinking’? What reaction might you get? Will they ask, ‘You mean like in mushrooms?’ or ‘As in Elon Musk or Richard Branson?’ I first heard the term in a very different context, used by someone who was once...

Some say that insight comes when we remember something valuable after forgetting what we were taught. What value has come back to you after forgetting the ‘gems’ of the Summit of four months ago? Not trusting my memory, I have rummaged through my notes, and the slides...