The Richwood Report

EVERYTHING can be lean. The lessons are everywhere. You can even see an opportunity for lean principles in a pop machine. The principle here is PULL vs. PUSH, or the principle that the desires of the customer determine what is produced. Stated another way-- what he wants is what we make. The outcome is better service, (or more value) for the customer and more sales for the machine.

Here is a lean blog you will enjoy. The post selected is the blogger's observations of how lean principles have been implemented even in the operation of a kindergarten and even by people who might not recognize lean manufacturing by name. For example:

Before lining up for lunch, all the kindergarten students helped clean up the room from an active play period. Each toy had a designated place to store them, a home location that was clearly labeled. Since most 5 year olds are not able to read yet and have limited sight recognition of words, I assume the labels are for the teacher. Despite limited reading skills, these kindergarten students knew the proper home location for each toy. In a flash, they had the entire classroom back in order. Even the teacher and her aide joined the students in the clean up, working together. It certainly looked like a quite efficient 5S process with (management) leading by example to me.

There's a lot more useful material there if you look around. A longer entry about a visit to Japan is here.