Andrea Rivas Herrera

Lean manufacturing is all about reducing waste and increasing efficiency. Manufacturers have been implementing lean practices for decades and have stood the test of time. Now, with technological advancements, lean methodologies can be more transformative than ever before. “Integrating automation into lean manufacturing is a powerful strategy. Unlike traditional automation, which often aims to increase production capacity without considering real needs, lean automation focuses on the smart and selective application of technologies to meet specific continuous improvement goals and eliminate inefficiencies,” the Kaizen Institute said. “Digital transformation provides an unprecedented opportunity for implementing lean,” it continued. “When applied within lean, tools like the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), and data analytics can revolutionize how organizations detect and eliminate waste.” What is Lean Manufacturing? In “The Machine That Changed The World,” published in 1990, lean production is hailed as “Toyota’s secret weapon in the global car wars.” The Toyota Production System was developed following World War II from “a series of simple innovations … to provide both continuity in process flow and a wide variety in product offerings,” according to the Lean Enterprise Institute. In “Lean Thinking,” a 1996 follow-up to “The Machine That Changed The World,” authors James…

Special Guest Blog Post written by Dyci Sfregola   Why planning, procurement, and leadership must move beyond coordination theater Collaboration is one of the most overused (and misunderstood) words in both modern supply chain and construction management. Everyone claims to value it. Few organizations design their operating models to make it work. In a recent conversation, Scott Luton sat down with Dyci Sfregola, author of Next Level Construction Management, to unpack what real collaboration looks like in practice; and why so many well-intentioned efforts fail to deliver measurable results.   What “True” Collaborative Planning Really Means According to Sfregola, real collaboration isn’t about more meetings or more dashboards. It’s about working together to create one plan, one set of assumptions, and real tradeoff analysis – – all owned collectively across functions. That includes finance, commercial, marketing, manufacturing, planning, and procurement all working from the same reality. Capacity, labor, cash flow, and constraints are visible. Decisions are documented. Actions actually change what happens next. The most common failure? Confusing information sharing with alignment. Teams often circulate data and emails and call it alignment, but no one in the room has clear decision rights – – or the authority to commit resources…