Planet Lean: The Official online magazine of the Lean Global Network
The experience of a value stream manager in a lean hospital

The experience of a value stream manager in a lean hospital

Leonidia Maria Altoé
December 15, 2017

INTERVIEW - What happens in an organization after a move from silos to value streams? In this video, a Value Stream Manager from a Brazilian cancer treatment center shares her experience.


Interviewee: Leonidia Maria Altoé, Value Stream Manager, Instituto de Oncologia do Vale - Brazil


Too many organizations still have a vertical structure based on silos and functions. Lean thinking calls for a dramatic change in the way the work takes place, based on value streams. At IOV, a cancer treatment center located in São José dos Campos, that's exactly what we did.

In the below interview, I explain what the change meant to me and my colleagues, how it made our jobs easier and how it dramatically improved outcomes for patients.


THE INTERVIEWEE

Leonidia Maria Altoe photograph
Leonidia Maria Altoé is a Value Stream Manager at IOV, in Brazil

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From Chaos to 15-Minute Service: How a Breakfast Restaurant Became a Lean Machine
December 9, 2025
From Chaos to 15-Minute Service: How a Breakfast Restaurant Became a Lean Machine

FEATURE – How breakfast restaurant Omelegg used Lean Thinking to slash waiting times, eliminate waste, and introduce a 4-day work week.

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The story of the lean transformation of a crane manufacturer
July 6, 2016
The story of the lean transformation of a crane manufacturer

NOTES FROM THE GEMBA – In the past 15 months Terex Cranes has successfully initiated a lean transformation. Follow Catherine Chabiron on her gemba walk to see what this large company is doing to put learning at the heart of its activities.

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The lean journey of a manufacturer of combine harvesters
April 15, 2014
The lean journey of a manufacturer of combine harvesters

CASE STUDY - An approach based on Lean Daily Management System and experiments in a model area led an Italian manufacturer of combine-harvesters to become one of the leanest organizations in the Veneto region.

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Why respect for people and lean are the only way forward
January 12, 2015
Why respect for people and lean are the only way forward

FEATURE - Mission creep, silos and a disengaged workforce are some of the negative effects of traditional management. Michael Ballé offers an alternative based on the respect for people principle of lean thinking.

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