What is “Lean”?

The term "Lean" was introduced by James Womack author of "Lean Thinking" to describe what he observed at Toyota Motor Corporation. Toyota has been practicing Lean Manufacturing principles for over 50 years now. You may think of Lean as being waste free, however that's not enough. Consider developing a common message that "Lean is the endless pursuit of waste elimination". The term endless is the key. When you here companies say that they have done "Lean" what are they are really saying?

Lean Transformation: “The Critical Point”

The Critical point usually occurs within the first two years of the Lean Journey. At the two year mark most companies loose steam and either dismantle their Lean teams or stay stagnated indefinitely. There are a few companies in pursuit of perfection which actually step up their Lean transformation efforts substantially.

Creating your “Lean Enterprise Vision”

When you look at your organization what color are the glasses that you where? Its time to get crazy and raise your organizations expectations. Can you visualize the day when your organization sees 17-25% productivity improvements each and every year for over 7 years?

Stop Now If You Are Afraid of Rocks

The Lean Journey is not for everyone. It requires discipline and Sr. management commitment and a lot of seemingly endless days. If you are afraid of Rocks stop now. Change is scary, so be prepared for the resistors.

As we sail along the Sea of Inventory from Raw Material (RM) to Finished Goods (FG) we are unaware of the dangers lurking below. As we begin our Lean Journey we use Kaizen Breakthrough events to start lowering the Sea of Inventory. The further we lower the Sea of Inventory the more the Rocks get exposed. Do not be afraid of the rocks they have always been there. Stay determined. The Rocks represent the seven wastes in manufacturing and their causes. So how do we make money? Turn the Rocks into pebbles and then dust.