The London Olympics’ Better never stops motto may very well sound like a good example of branding of a company’s improvement programme, and a good mantra to keep people focused on business goals in a lean environment.

Without a strong, consistent plan for cultural change, an organisation is likely to see its improvement programme fail in no time.

David Howells, Managing Director of Renault- Nissan Consulting, shares an intimate reflection on the challenges of the early stages of Renault’s lean journey, the progress that has been made since the Renault-Nissan Alliance and the value that ‘sharing the experience’ of that journey has brought to various non-automotive clients over the last decade.

A lean journey is never easy, and when enthusiasm wanes it can be a struggle to stick to the plan.

James Hereford, Katie Anderson and Joy Hereford discuss the rapid adoption of a lean management system at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation, a large, physician-led multi-specialty group practice in California.

OpEx is more than just a buzzword.

LEAN AU COUER

LMJ crosses the Channel to hear from lean companies in France.

Alex Adamopoulos, CEO of emergn, a global consultancy focused on supporting development projects, change management and business transformation projects with a blend of agile and lean principles, shares his opinion on what stereotypical leadership is and why it should be avoided.

Editorial board member Ebly Sanchez, of Volvo Group, shares his thoughts about Keivan Zokaei’s article “Monozukuri: Toyota going green”, appeared in the October issue of LMJ.