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Torbjørn H. Netland

Top 10 scientific papers on lean

by Torbjørn H. Netland Scientific thinking is a cornerstone of lean thinking, but the lean movement itself has unfortunately become largely unscientific. Here are ten academic lean papers you should know. Most writings on lean are anecdotal success stories or opinion...

The World Class Manufacturing programme at Chrysler, Fiat & Co.

by Torbjørn H. Netland The company-specific production system (XPS) of Chrysler is the World Class Manufacturing (WCM) concept, developed by the Fiat Group in 2006. But, what exactly is the WCM? And, what does Chrysler see as keys to success in WCM? A few answers are...

Kings and fat horses: Understanding 3 Ms in Lean

by Torbjørn H. Netland The “3 Ms”— muri, mura, muda — is among the most important concepts in lean production. Yet, the Ms are often misjudged. The most common misunderstanding is to see lean only as a method to reduce waste  (“muda”). Those that start waste-hunting...

Five rules of productivity improvement

by Torbjørn H. Netland If I should explain my research in two words, I would say “improving productivity”. Productivity matters The importance of productivity for our wealth and prosperity is well captured by the famous quote of Nobel Prize Laurate Paul Krugman [1]:...

How new technologies shape the future of production

by Torbjørn H. Netland How will manufacturing look like in the future? As part of my engagement as Fellow of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Production, I featured in a podcast about the future of production. Here is what I had to say about it....