On this week’s show, Paul Akers returns to Kazakhstan to check in on the Lean progress at the BI Group.

Day 1 – Lean Progress

Day 2 – Gemba Walk

Paul Akers and the Leadership Team from the BI Group travel to Japan to further their education on Lean. Is your goal zero inspections?

Paul Akers and the Leadership Team from the BI Group travel to Japan to further their education on Lean. Do you know Jidoka: automation with the human touch.

Paul Akers and the Leadership Team from the BI Group travel to Japan to further their education on Lean. Do you take Kanbans seriously?

Paul Akers and the Leadership Team from the BI Group travel to Japan to further their education on Lean. Do you regularly evaluate value added v. non-value added activities?

Paul Akers and the Leadership Team from the BI Group travel to Japan to further their education on Lean. Are you saving every dollar that you can?

Paul Akers and the Leadership Team from the BI Group travel to Japan to further their education on Lean. Did you know there was two kinds of kaizen?

Paul Akers and the Leadership Team from the BI Group travel to Japan to further their education on Lean. Day 1 was spent in the Dojo Gemba Simulator.

“It is hard to believe that I am on my fifth book ‘Miracle in Kazakhstan.’ In January 2015, I accepted an invitation to come to Kazakhstan’s largest construction company – BI Group – to speak about ‘2 Second Lean’. My job was simple; build a lean culture in a company through interpreters, in a language that is as foreign to me as painting a Van Gough would be.” Press here to read the entire Lean Construction blog post.

The Lean Construction Blog interviewed Paul about his latest endeavor. Below is an excerpt.

“It is hard to believe that I am on my fifth book “Miracle in Kazakhstan.” In January 2015, I accepted an invitation to come to Kazakhstan’s largest construction company – BI Group – to speak about “2 Second Lean”. My job was simple; build a lean culture in a company through interpreters, in a language that is as foreign to me as painting a Van Gough would be. However, this was a little daunting since I honestly didn’t even know where Kazakhstan was! When I arrived in Astana, Kazakhstan’s capital city, I was surprised how modern and forward thinking it was. More surprisingly was meeting such an engaged and curious company that was humble enough to make it happen. This blog post, the first in a series, will set the context for future blogs detailing BI Group’s lean journey and how it is being sustained within the company and their supply chain. Each blog will leave you hanging a little bit and hopefully wanting more!” Press here to read more…