On 2 June 2023, a workshop meeting was held with representatives of various business groups in Walcz at the Apart Hotel. The topic of the meeting was […]

The workshops are very practical and are dedicated to the management and production directors. Apart from the theoretical part, they include a gemba walk in two production […]

How to manufacture a product which meets customer requirements with less work and expenses and at the same time with a lower number of mistakes? How to […]

Dear #CEO The company strategy will impact how employees will react and work Scenario 1: Your company is set for high sales growth through volume increase. This […]

Dear #CEOIs your management team stepping up to the plate!?Is the Hoshin kanri receiving its final touches?The Strategy refreshed, adjusted to take in the latest expectations and […]

Dear #CEO,Do you work through your day in a calm spirit? A calm and gentle approach to the moments in your day will impact you and your […]

Dear #CEO, How realistic are the maintenance department KPI? For some reason there is this belief that if an organisation engages TPM principles and reports its standard […]

Dear #CEOAre you achieving your breakthrough goals this year!? The 7 steps of Hoshin Planning are: This is where the yacht, your business really needs to deliver […]

Dear #CEO, Do you use a Lean Sensei Coach to develop yourself!? Regular and systematic practice of Humility and Self-reflection (Hansei) are no longer popular today, its been […]

Could I ask lean community why did it get to this!?Do they have a Lean Transformation Deployed!?How is their culture!? Please share what you know.Very disturbing.Cost cutting […]

Dear #CEOHow many days do you have left?We assume we have so many days left in our lives, but do we stop to think about the Life […]

Dear #CEOIs your Finance Director a Dinosaur or a Navigator? If the FD of your business is using traditional management reporting methods in today’s competitive business environment, […]

Dear #CEO, Are you an Influencer? Ok, a play on words, but I am referring to your leadership skills in engaging others. From time to time I […]

How do we agree, set and manage our direction for 2024 and onwards, in other words Hoshin Kanri? How do we agree, and manage long term goals […]

Dear #CEO The next consultant that offers you a kaizen week, realise that poverty, hardship and innovation have been the fundamentals of continous improvement in every nation […]

Dear #CEO  What creates Employee meaning and purpose? There is a new contributing wave to business Leadership excellence called neuroscience. It has and will have many positive contributions to […]

Dear #CEORemember, you are only a human being, but with potential for good. ‘Leadership is only a title, it will pass.Focus on what is important and the […]

Dear #CEOThere is no silver bullet to a lean transition. There is however, a natural intended path to excellent business results its calledcontinuous improvement. Now, the secret […]

Dear #CEOHow to prepare for a Lean Transition? Lean Transition requires preparation as a Teacher prepares a Student to an Exam. A good Teacher, sensei prepares the […]

Dear #CEO  What are your leading key performance indicators!? “Your success here will be measure on three performance figures, employee engagement, furthering member self reliance and developing member […]

Dear #CEOWhat makes for Employee Engagement? Running an organisation the lean transition tps way is not too dissimilar to a good time in the playground sandpit. You […]

Dear #CEOWhy the P in SPQDC is so poorly practiced and understood? P stands for people and so P leads to Q and D quality & delivery.Consciously […]

Dear #CEOTrue Lean is like a beautiful sailing ship. Each sail is up and trimmed just right to obtain optimum performance.Each crew member know their standard work. […]

Dear #CEOIs there more to Lean than Scientific Management? Perhaps the root-cause of Lean Transition failures is the terrible misunderstanding that Lean is just Scientific. Whereas, the […]

Dear #CEOHow do you map your processes. It’s not too dissimilar to charting your sailing route. How do you process your map?

Dear #CEOHow good is your HR in supporting the development of lean leaders? Just to make it clear, one of Mark Forkun diverse academic qualifications is an MBA specialised in Strategic HR. […]

Dear #CEO  If you can’t manage your ego, self glorification then focus on kindness. Being a true leader, especially a lean leader, requires humility.Did it ever occur to […]

Dear #CEODo you operate an ‘I want it my way’ Academy at work? For some strange reason we find leaders, of all ranks, insisting they want to […]

Dear #CEOHow good are your business navigation skills for 2024? Sustainable (Durable) Competitive Advantage for 2024 might include some or all of the following:A clear strategy for your […]

Dear #CEO  How do you rate the performance of your purchasing team !? Key Points to consider:

Dear #CEO  What is Your Quality-Touch-Point !? A QTP is a Habit.It permeates throughout the organisation.It builds your culture, the way we do things around here. Example:Too much […]

Dear #CEOHow to hold a coaching development meeting with your employee? 1. Arrange to meet your team member no later than 2 weeks after they have attended the training.2. An […]

Dear #CEOHow are you doing with Lean Accounting in your organisation!? Lean Accounting is the process of optimizing the flow of work that goes into running an accounting, […]

Dear #CEOHave you ever entered a passenger airplane !? Did you notice who is standing at the entrance, do they look you in the eye, do they welcome […]

Dear #CEO  Do you know what Julius Caesar said about most Lean Transitions?“In most cases men willingly believe what they wish.” Key Points to consider:1. There is an […]

Dear #CEOHow to create a Poor Quality Assurance Culture?Here are some Key Points on how to ensure poor quality: P.S. the whisky bottle is for medicinal purposes […]

Dear #CEO  How do you create a culture of quality assurance throughtout the production value stream? The first thing to realise is that many people think quality control […]

Dear #CEO  How to run Effective and Efficient Production meetings – Part three Here I go into more detail on the final 10 , from 16 Key Points: […]

Dear #CEOHow the Art of Production meetings support the organisational culture and business performance.Part 3 today explains in more detail points 4 to 6 from the first […]

Dear #CEOAre you managing Effective Production meetings? Explained points 1 to 3 following on from the previous post on 16 Effective key points to holding a Production […]

Dear #CEO  How long and effective are your Production meetings? Some companies hold weekly, some daily production meetings.Here are my 16 Key Points on effective Production meetings: I […]

Just imagine for a moment that your job will be replaced by an AI Robot 😮 What is Your Moral Compass?Do you need one anyway as we […]

If you fail in persuading someone in your team to change their attitude and see resistance to change, don’t necessarily blame yourself. Here are a few words […]

Dear #CEO  Strategy & Hoshin Kanri completed for 2023+ The real graft comes with the deployment.My favourite is Daily Management – Get into the HABIT. Hot on the […]

Dear #CEO  How do we create People Power through Leadership? I have just been reminded and inspired by the Dr M . vlog podcast with Hide Oba called “The Philosophy Behind “People […]

Dear #CEOWhat do you do with your Employee Engagement Results? There are some very good Employee Engagement and Motivation Survey programmes on the market. The results presented certainly […]

Dear #CEO , Why use Lego to work towards flow? The team redesigned the line in line with improved metrics, standard work, cycle time, WIP and use of Andon. […]

Dear #CEO , What do ANDON and PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY have in common? ANDON is a culture changer, why ? Because, for ANDON to work, employees need to feel safe […]

Dear #CEO  What is lean? Confused? This picture might help. Don’t worry even the biggest and proudest corporations implement lean but serve it up as a tool, with […]

Dear #CEO  Lean Leaders practice self-reflection and humility every day. There are many Habits which a Sensei practices so as to be the right example for others. Remember […]

Dear #CEO  Are you rushing with your Lean Transition? The one fundamental thing you should try to understand if you are to follow Toyota is: The Two Wheels […]

Dear #CEO Hansei – some critical thinking about yourself. No HANSEI no KAIZEN because KAIZEN has to start with a self-reflection on the current state for a future […]

Dear #CEO Does your culture eat your strategy? Peter Drucker, the management guru, author and educator, came up with the phrase ‘culture eats strategy for breakfast’, but […]

Dear #CEO  What is a Lean Company Valuation? A Lean Company Valuation is when you combine a lean Operational Assessment with a Financial Valuation, sometimes referred to as […]

Dear #CEO  Wisdom at the Genba – Don’t forget these sound lean principles Genba wisdom nr. 1:Man can waitMachine can waitMaterial must flow How often we become so focused […]

Dear #CEO  What is the connection between Quality, Standard work, Process Memory and Andon? If everyone is working to their own standard work in accordance with what is […]

Dear #CEO  Vampire workers not only poison the organisational culture but destroy other workers. Typical characteristics, traits and behavioursThe general rule is that the larger the organisation the […]

Dear #CEO  Snake workers poison organisational culture and performance.Everyone of us has a snake character within us, it is our will whether we use it. Who and where […]

Dear #CEO How are you treating your Donkey workers ? Typical characteristics, traits and behaviours:Values:We have all experienced Donkey workers in our organisation. A Donkey worker is one who […]

Dear #CEO Look after your ANT Workers, they are the powerhouse to your organisation. Typical characteristics, traits and behaviours of ANT Workers Values:Hard workers having assigned responsibilities and effectively […]

Dear #CEO Look after your BEE workers. Typical characteristics, traits and behaviours of BEE Workers: Values:Loyal, hard-working, conscientious, truthful, not averse to helping and supporting others, share information, built […]

Dear #CEO What Employee Contribution do you have in your organisation? Walking around organisations, you know and I know there re those who are engaged, trustworthy, kind, competent and […]

Dear #CEOWhat is Accounting for Lean? Accounting for Lean is a necessary process in sustaining and providing value added management reporting during a complete enterprise transformation because it enables the […]

Dear #CEO are you working to make the number or the takt? Reflections on what is lean Lean is the synchronisation of two wheels, the Business Progress wheel with […]

Dear #CEO How good is your Finance Director can they explain this in practice? When someone is able to expain to us this diagram and we can see it in practice […]

Dear #CEO Quo Vadis for 2023!Once again you and your team will begin the process of planning your strategy for 2023 and perhaps beyond. Here are a few quick […]

Dear #CEO,  Why visual management allows you to create employee engagement and understand business progress? One of the ways I prepare a team or in fact an entire organisation to visual management […]

Dear #CEO  When do you practice policy, expediency and morality as a leader !Policy is practiced when there is a policy in place for example in SQDC. You always go with policy starting with safety in […]

Dear CEO, lacking Leader Authority there is little chance of Standard Work! Standard work on the shop floor seldom can be successfully implemented and sustained unless the […]

Dear #CEO  Why build a lean culture ?“Your task is to deliver a programme which will build employee engagement and selfreliance as well as their ability to solve problems , that is your task with the team. […]

Dear #CEO, are you reducing lead time on continuous and one off production by 30% within 4 months? Most common response I hear is; “it’s not possible”, “we […]

Dear #CEO Are maintenance from Mars and Production from Venus? 👀 I call this the London Bridge syndrome, so how do we bridge the Gap?There are a number of ways to tackle this problem. Some […]

Dear #CEO Are you doing #lean or management by objectives #mbo? 👀 Of course, the word, doing, is what you should not be doing, but working towards building the right organisational culture for a sustainable environment […]

Dear #CEO,is your top management team practicing Daily Management or just talking about it! 👀 Daily Management Practices is #standardwork for top management !👀 Your #hoshinkanri is a tool but it works […]

Dear #CEO Have you documented your standards? 👀 Reading lean posts, I get the impression that unless a process is documented then there is no standard and the business […]

Dear #CEO What do we need to do to be Lean Fit? The truth is, even first tier OEM to the motor industry are not lean, in the #tps sense of […]

Dear #CEO what books on lean leadership would you recommend?There are two books by two amazing people from industry Toyota and danaher.👀 Both are written from years of Genba practice in […]

Dear #CEO – Tales from the #boardroomWhat does  #organisationalculture #leadership  #enterprisekaizen  and  #hansei have in common?We all fail each day, at work, on the road, at home. We quickly recognise the […]

Dear #CEO, Leading to serve others,Leadership accountability is about serving others and has an enormous responsibility on your shoulders. Its not about #kpis, Bonuses, #mbo and #strategy that an #mba will force feed you. 👀 #PrincipledLeanLeadership is perhaps […]

Dear #CEO – Tales from the #boardroomWhat does #heijunka , #Jidoka and #andon have in common with #SQDC and #skiing !For me Heijunka is a method to improve the tango between sales, aka #takt time and #productionplanning aka #cycletime#teams .It reduces unevenness aka #mura in a production process […]

Dear #CEO  – Tales from the #boardroomToo often we see #SQDC as something to have on a white board to measure only performance or #kpisHowever, what they will not tell you is […]

Dear #CEOWhat does #lean#trilogy and #productionplanning have in common !👉I will focus only on the ubiquitous and undervalued Sales & Operational Planning role and how this relates to the tripartite relationship between #shareholders#employees and #customers […]

Dear #CEOWhat typical operational measurements would youcreate with the team leaders, planners and Supervisors?Let us assume we are focusing on production in saytooling, casting, paint shop, press, pre-production […]

Dear #CEOWhat is #quality without all the theory and books on #tqmI fully respect and support the lean quality movement.What repeated client experience has shown me is this.👀 Quick wins often […]

Dear #CEO,When do we get flow during implementing an #enterprisetransformation !When the business is on its knees !Are you working hard to bring your business to its knees ?Ok, the […]

Dear #CEOHow many lean tools do we need to become a lean organisation ?💪 As many as you need to shift the results, in the time span needed […]

Dear #CEO,What are the drawbacks of piece #work, will this lead to the #Titanic effect?👉 Many companies pay a basic salary and add on piece-work just so that volumes can be […]

Dear #CEOWhat is going to be your success strategy for 2022? Could your strategic break-through for 2022 be focusing on improving your Daily Management Processes! Many companies are […]

Dear #CEOWhat lean approach should we be having, #point#kaizen or #enterprise#kaizen meaning #leantransformation for 2022 and beyond?.👉 To cut to the chase, checklist your organisation to the following questions: 👉 Go for Point Kaizen, […]

Dear #CEOWhat is the purpose of visual #kpis boards at the daily shift meeting?So employees know that management has “clearly” informed them of their achievements, goals, errors and problems. More […]

Dear #CEOWhat is the purpose of the daily shift meeting?👉Every one will tell you it’s to go through the daily KPI’s starting from #safety, then #quality, #delivery and #cost, followed by #kaizen and possibly #environmentalimpact from yesterday, […]

Dear #CEOWe have a #problem with #qualityproduct . Do we need a #cabbagepatch on the #production floor space or warehouse? 🥬️Having a cabbage patch as dedicated floor space for rejected & rework items is a great #visualmanagement tool.🥬️Make […]

Dear #CEOHow can a #leader build #authority, by  #engaging #policy  or  #expediency first?How does this relate to #SQDC #safetyculture #qualityimprovement #delivery and #cost with its #kpis?💪#management must always place #policy before #expediency. Here are a few examples of when […]

Dear #CEOHow do our leaders build #authority on the shop floor ?💪Building authority is not something you get by your position in then company. That should be made clear to […]

Dear #CEOWhy do some managers keep far away from using any form of #problemsolving tools such #A3 or #qualitycircles or even the #onepointlesson tool?Reasons are many, here is one I came across just recently🍒#management and #lineleadership see problem solving […]

Dear #CEOWhat if we only had 4 goals to aim for during our #lean#continuousimprovementculture programme, what would you recommend?🍪 Quality driven mindset of all #employees🍪Order to delivery time #takttime#leadtime#cycletime🍪Developing employees through practical #problemsolvingskills🍪Starting […]

Dear #CEO“How can we effectively manage our #onboardingprocess with new #employees whilst minimising our costs?”.This question is from our #yokoten #conference. 👍I would have to look at 3 #kpis before answering your question.👍 Details of employee […]

Dear #CEO“How can we build #trust between these two departments. #production team and #Sales teams are world apart from each other. Each often criticises the other side with little #motivation to work together.This question is from […]

Dear #CEO“What should I know about the 5th Shitsuke”.#tps and #employeeengagement as well as #leadershipdevelopment with achieving business #goals are all interrelated. There is much more to 5S than most of us can imagine. Here […]

Dear #CEO“What method should we use to set out our strategy for 2022 and beyond!”. 🎓From a #leanthinking #leadershipdevelopment perspective, it very much depends on how ready your organisation is to […]

Dear #CEO“How can we leverage our lean business experience to help others?”.“There are experienced #consultants and #businessleaders who for very little effort could #yokotenonline for free their experience and help raise funds to build […]

Dear #CEO“How do we improve our quality?”. “What #qualitymanagement system can we use, our customers are very demanding”. 👍There is a mountain of #expert advice on #quality but here is something straight from the #genba and #tps👍what […]

Dear #ceo“Can you apply lean to short series orders and one-offs, surely lean is for mass production?”. 🚗 #leanmanufacturing #TPS was born in mass production.🚗 The #philospophy can be used anywhere where there […]

Dear #CEO“What can I do to reduce the fluctuation/rotation of new #recruits and get them up to speed on #process ?”. 🙈Key reply is #onboarding. The last thing you want is employing recruits […]

Dear #CEO,“Where is the best place in our organisation to place a #continuousimprovementculture programme person?”.“Our business model is 65m euro #sales, 25% direct labour, 40% #materials, 25% fixed costs giving an #EBITDA of 10%?”. […]

Dear #CEO“We want to become a #learning organisation. One where we really focus on developing the #organisationalculture,  #employeeengagement and #motivation will make a significant influence on our #business results”. 😱”Really!”. That’s so good news. So lets […]

Dear #CEO“Why do you want to introduce lean as a goal for your business!”. “We then talked about the word #courage and what this means in a #leadershipdevelopment capacity”. Here are a […]

Dear #CEO“Why did the British car industry so dramatically fail in the 70’s and 80’s?”. 🚘The reasons are many. One is exactly what Deming was saying at that […]

Dear #CEO“Is there any value in conducting a #lean or a #leanmanufacturing #leadership, #management style #audit of my #business?”. ✅ An excellent question, there are many reasons to and not-to do an audit. Here are some questions […]

Dear #CEO“Where should the planning team sit within the company, some say it should be under production, others say the function should be independent of #production and #sales team, what is your […]

Dear #CEO“Why is excessive overtime not a good thing even if the sales team declare that we still make money on these order?”. 🔑 Short term, some overtime […]

Dear #CEO❓ “How can I close one production plant whilst promoting the implementation of #bestpractices in line with The #toyotaway ?”. 📢I will have to let go nearly 3,000 people all based […]

Dear #CEO“How do I improve my #safetyfirst figures?”“Is it a question of #trainingprograms , #safetyawareness, #attitudes or something else?”.Lets look at it as a problem we can solve through the A3 method. ❌ Safety at […]

All too often businesses invest in some new project only to be very surprised that the project is overrun on costs and time of delivery. Just two […]

Four Employee Killer Costs I will mention five categories (the fifth relates to the current crisis we have) here: I. THE BONUS SYSTEMa. All bonus systems at […]

In other words, how to create business suicide! No.1 You have been operating on a low, M1 profit margin (sales minus variable direct costs of labour and […]

What are my variable costs? How can I further reduce my variable costs! This is really the domain for operations managers including the lean manager. Variable costs […]

How to improve your Business Cash-Flow? A Brief Guide based on: “A Lean Accounting Approach to Managing your business during a Crisis”. One of many lessons I […]

Production based on one-piece-flow In a production environment you should be aiming for a one-piece flow approach to process improvement. This will also mean eliminating all work-in-progress […]

Source: 24th March Lean Leadership Way Institute. YOKOTEN series: Contributor: Mark Forkun Are you delivering on time! “Over the past few years business has been so good […]

Source: 18th March Lean Leadership Way Institute. YOKOTEN series: Contributor: Mark Forkun Right now, your business is running 24/7. Production is running flat out and doing everything […]

What is my role as a leader? What can I do to successfully implement a sustainable problem-solving culture in my company?

How does the Lean Leader Circle OPDCSC differ from the PDCA Deming Cycle?

One point lesson is one of those  tools that is much misunderstood in its use outside of Toyota. In this short article, I would like to describe […]

My first lecture on Lean Leader Work Standardization (LSW, in English, Leader Standard Work) was delivered in April 2011 in Warsaw. The New Year’s Eve period is […]

It is nearly the end of the eleventh month of the year and I’m sure your team(s) will meet tomorrow at the boards to discuss the KPIs […]

Why do we complain more and blame more, instead of looking for reasons to celebrate within the company?

… and 10 key practices for the top management!

How do I see the Lean Departament in a company and how do the Management see it?