Jit Factory Revolution: A Pictorial Guide to Factory Design of the Future

This is a very nice overview of lean, or "just in time" as this was referred to in 1988 when this book was published. There are many great "before and after" examples in the book that illustrate many lean principles. There are nice diagrams that show how the different lean tools fit together and support each other. Downsides to the book are that the pictures from Japan (with kanji character signs), which might turn off people in some American factories, and some terminology issues (what's commonly called "takt time" is referred to as "cycle time" in this book, which might cause confusion). I have dozens of lean books, but enjoy this book for the historical context (it's a very early lean book) and for the specific examples and lessons I can learn from in my plant's lean efforts.