In this session, Mark and Andira discuss the current and future challenges of Indonesia - especially when it comes to skills - and the role of Lean Thinking and Practice in bridging that gap.

The GE Gas Power factory in Hungary faced a huge challenge after they decided to switch from batch production to one-piece flow: safely moving parts weighing over 100 kg between machines. In this presentation, Ádám and Ferdinánd will explain how the team was able to solve the problem - and improve safety, quality, and part movements - using the moonshine and karakuri methods. They'll also tell us how technicians and engineers developed their own process improvement and problem-solving capabilities through a series of experiments and iterations, and how all this was possible using prototypes they made (rather than buying off-the-shelf solutions).

In today's ever-changing global economy, the ability to adapt and transform internal structures, adopting a "fixed and flexible" approach, is more important than ever. This is especially true in the luxury sector, in which changing internal processes while maintaining and staying true to the craftsmanship that lies behind high-end products becomes a critical (although uncommon) undertaking. Join Nicola and Simona to learn about the transformation taking place at Pomellato, where the knowledge and creativity of skilled craftsmen and motivated teams are continuously fuelling the company's process of adaptation. By having people at the heart of its transformation, Pomellato manages to leverage lean to improve efficiency and agility, but also to respect the human touch that characterizes luxury craftsmanship.

Join this conversation between two lean CEOs - one running a chain of hotels in Spain, the other running a clinic in Argentina. Marco and Javier will sit down with Oriol Cuatrecasas of Instituto Lean Management and talk about what Lean has done for their organizations, what they have learned over the course of their multi-year journeys, and why Lean is still the way forward for their organizations.

This study explores synergies between Lean, Industry 4.0, and Industry 5.0, proposing a Lean 5.0 paradigm that enhances Human-Centric (HC) practices. Ilaria will present a conceptual framework validated through Italian leather goods case studies that offers actionable insights for traditional industries like fashion transitioning toward Industry 5.0.

For the past six years, Eivind and Daryl have been visiting organizations large and small, private and public, old and young, across the Nordic countries. Many of these visits have been documented and described in Planet Lean and Lean Post articles. They will tell us who they have met on their travels, what they have learned, and whether they have found that Kaizen spirit.

After taking over an industrial bakery, small, family-owned craftsmanship bakery Borgesius in The Netherlands became the strategic partner of the country’s biggest supermarket chain. This brought many challenges to the company, because of increasingly demanding customer expectations vis-a-vis a need to set up a new  organization and chase internal losses to stay competitive. In this presentation, Philip will explain how Borgesius is adapting to changing customer values and creating stability by using some basic lean tools and insights.

Discover how Lean Thinking can you to help tackle uncertainty and plan for the future. João will explore how this methodology was brought into a university team to solve challenges and win real-world competitions.

Join this session to hear the story of personal improvement journey of a General Manager and the experience of the local LEM Bulgaria leadership team with Hoshin Kanri as their compass for operational excellence, collaboration, and sustainability.

The team at Idilia embarked on an ambitious project to reduce by 50% the time required to bring a new product from decision to market - from 5 to 2.5 months. The challenge was huge, because the process involves over 50 people and 10 different departments in the company - as well as external agencies, printers, and factories. In this presentation, Amalia and Cristina will discuss how the project was carried out through an A3 titled “PIM PAM PUM” – owned by the Marketing Department but developed in partnership with several other areas – and how the team was able to improve both the flow of information and the process itself.

Join Stephen to explore how Weightmans transformed its new legal case intake process using the Lean Transformation Framework. As lean newcomers, Weightmans identified inefficiencies, eliminated bottlenecks, and built a management system to enhance their team’s capabilities and deliver greater value. They’ll share insights on improving both business operations and people development, showing how any organization can adopt lean principles for meaningful, impactful results.

Looking back on 30 years of lean research, what do we know? First, that lean won’t stick if the CEO is not personally committed. Second, that “savings”-type projects of process improvement have a short-term effect and may make matters worse in the medium-term by shifting the problem to another part of the organization and putting more pressure on people. Third, that in the end it’s all about orienting towards customer satisfaction and deepening problem-solving and kaizen at all levels. If CEOs are central to adopting lean as part of their company’s DNA (and to the survival of these ideas and ideals), what do they look for in lean? Business results, certainly, but they are also very aware of the impact of market conditions on their results and of how their company’s culture and operating systems respond to external crises. The one thing that they really seek is adaptiveness - how to keep engaging teams in improving quality, flexibility and return-on-assets while responding to inevitable market crises. In this session, Michael asks what CEOs look for in a lean program and how we can give it to them.

Hear the story of the lean transformation of a factory producing parcel machines for the inPost capital group. Implementing a new strategy enabled spectacular results, boosting the team's commitment, launching a continuous improvement approach and giving the company a huge competitive advantage in the market. Wojciech will share real examples of how the way of thinking and daily routines changed at inPost Group. And continuous flow was just the beginning!

Join us to wrap up the Lean Global Connection 2024, with reflections on what we learned.