Hello world!
Welcome to my Beyond Lean blog! Out of personal an professional interest I have started to write about my own journey in continuous improvement, business process engineering and 20 years in executive management functions. These posts reflect on my learnings in moving beyond Lean, specifically the typical Lean methodologies and
Continue readingManaging change
Introduction Change is a dominant force in today’s business and people’s lives. “From the simplest everyday changes to most difficult situations encountered by” (Brisson‐Banks 2010) organizations dealing with downsizing and/or cutbacks change is central. In acknowledging this, one has to take note that the ability to adapt to change is
Continue readingLeadership and your own leadership model
In recent history dating back about 80 years, a whole range of leadership models and theories have been devised. To name a few: The trait theory by Stogdill or Buchanan & Huczynski, the behavioral styles theory by Blake and Mouton, Situational/contingency theories by Hersey and Blanchard or Tannenbaum and Schmidt,
Continue readingTPM versus tool based Lean
Introduction The past 30 years have seen considerable shifts in focus and in favor of “Operational Excellence”. An organization producing the highest quality with the shortest delivery times relying on the lowest possible amount of inventory is vulnerable to any event that stops it from satisfying a customer requirement. Such
Continue readingAbout business improvement…
Introduction When asked about “what is business improvement”, one expects many possible responses. A typical reply would be “improving business performance”. Such performance improvements could include financial targets such as ROI, RONA or EBIT, eliminating business waste or harnessing the latest technology advancements such as automation, robotics or AI. Alternatively
Continue readingDemand, capacity and flow
Introduction Though Lean may seem as a toolbox of individual, independent tools, a holistic view quickly proves that all elements of Lean are intertwined. To achieve end-to-end flow, all elements must be balanced out. Besides throughput improvement measures, other factors such as workplace organization methods, total productive maintenance for increased
Continue readingSystems thinking
Introduction Arguably we live in a complex world. Competition is rife across all industries, rich countries are losing their leadership in innovation and breakthrough ideas, because emerging markets are competing on creativity as well as cost. Our political and macro-economic environment is influenced by rapidly changing events. Much is being
Continue readingStrategy/Policy deployment
An Introduction In many businesses, substantial focus is being placed on strategy and the definition thereof. However, few enterprises manage all key aspects of strategy and its application coherently, therefore are unable to align their organizations to achieve their set goals. In this post, I am seeking to address the
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