Case studies and the CI learning journey

The more seasoned I get as a continuous improvement (CI) practitioner, consultant and trainer, the more I appreciate the value of case studies for our clients. Regardless of sector, case studies are an invaluable information source for any organisation, particularly those directly relevant to the sector. Firstly, they provide information on how a particular organisation team went about implementing a lean programme or resolving a process problem. Secondly, they provide reassurance that many have trodden this path before, and succeeded. It’s rare for an organisation process problem to be 100% unique, and it’s likely many projects have been completed on a process problem similar to yours before now.  

There are two particular instances where case studies provide support.

1. The organisation is setting out on its continuous improvement journey.  Case studies answer some of those very early questions e.g.  questions ‘What is it?’ and ‘What does it look like?’, ‘What do I do next?’ . The first cohort to undertake yellow, green or black belt projects in the organisation are the pioneers, and have the most challenging task. Every cohort after that has internal case studies to refer to. I advise all clients to be proactive in openly sharing their own project case studies within the organisation, in a formal and regular forum. Not only does it give credit to the CI work completed, it also supports others in undertaking more CI work. Cross fertilization can be invaluable and stimulates innovation.   
2. The process problem is outside the area of experience of the team lead or organisation.  Here again case studies not only provide information on how to go about this particular improvement task, but they also provide inspiration. Very often in large organizations with a mature CI programme, similar projects are undertaken by teams in different departments or geographies over time. Having an easily accessible repository of projects clearly indexed can be of great support to this to the new project team. If the project is one that no one in the organization has undertaken before then external case studies provide similar same support.

But where do we get these case studies you may ask. Well that’s easy! There are several repositories open to the aspiring continuous improvement practitioner. Below is a table of just some of the many online case study collections, across multiple sectors, you might like to access.

Table. Case study references libraries

That’s all very well you may say, but reading can be boring, and I find it hard to visualize what the article is telling me. The last reference on the table above shows dozens of CI videos posted on the FastCap (tooling development & distribution) channel. However, even better than video, are actual site visits. The combination of the two can really help accelerate your CI programme in a robust way. Seeing truly is believing. On the Island of Ireland we are very lucky to have so many organisations (An Post, the NTMA, Seating Matters, Applied Concepts Ltd., to name but a few) with continuous improvement professionals who are willing and able to open their doors to groups learning about continuous improvement. Get in touch with your local Lean Network, or InvestNI in Northern Ireland, to enquire about arranging a site visit for your team.

When honing your continuous improvement craft the benefit that case studies, supported by site visits, bring can hardly be overstated. Don’t wear yourself out reinventing the wheel. Find what someone else has done, and do it better!

Footnote. May 2024 is when I last wrote a blog. This is principally because AI was, by then, widely used to generate all types of content. When it comes to blogs, even with the smooth polish, non-native terms and neatly segmented paragraphs, it’s difficult to tell whether or not a human was involved in the writing. However, in mid 2026 we’ve probably reached peak AI hype, so I’ve ventured into the world of freeform authorship again. This blog has been written without the aid of AI, except where it came researching web links for case studies in the table above. The world of CI case studies is very wide, with hundreds of references, so for the international section I stuck with some of the established reliable sources.

Lean Ireland is a consulting and training organisation, serving many sectors e.g. Finance, Healthcare, Public Service and Manufacturing. If you have a question about your lean practice or our services, just ask. We are here to help.

Bernie Rushe
Managing Director and Principal Consultant
Bernie@LeanIreland.ie
Lean Ireland case studies