Lean Thinking, 1st Ed.

Lean Thinking is the second of the lean books from Womack and Jones. First was "the machine that changed the world", which changed my way of thinking. Lean Thinking picks up where "the machine" left and tries to abstract the learning from "the machine" into 5 values of lean. The 5 values are "Value, Value Stream, Pull, Flow and Perfection". By abstracting these values, Womack and Jones enable the lean manufactuing ideas to be used in different industries, which is exactly what happened. That makes this book a landmark book that maybe changed the world even more than their first book. The book itself is a nice and very very easy read. The authors get to the point, their explanation is clear and their stories made me enjoy the book very much. All in all, an excellent book and a absolute must read for anyone interested in lean, in whatever industry.

Lean thinking shift management concern away from assets and finance and focuses them on the perspective of the customer. Value is provided when the supplier gives the customer exactly what they want when they want it and the producer creates value. Lean thinking provides immediate value by converting waste into value. Value is a conscious attempt to precisely define value in terms of a specific product with specific capabilities at a specific price through a dialogue with the customer. Managers need to rethink along product line and not existing assets and technologies. The value stream has three components: 1. the problem solving task 2. Information management 3. and transformation task. The value stream exposes and finds many steps that create no value and should be immediately avoidable. How does so much waste occur for such a long time? The departments or parties are not accountable nor forced to explain their products, processes, or service to others. Secondly, there exists the matter of confidentiality where non-disclosure creates barriers and artificial dependency. Third, the matter of the obvious circumvents the desire to continual improve and reexamine process and product. Value stream begins with "one thing at a time" as more efficient than batch processing. Batch processing is the culture of the farmer. The farmer culture has replaced the hunter culture. The hunter culture is more efficient, as it seeks to "build what the customer wants when the customer wants it" or in other words "on-demand production". On-demand production destroys the need for forecasting and lets the customer pull the product from the product when needed. Lean thinking cuts production through times by 90% and reduces inventories by 90%. Batch processing or mass production thinking results in stagnation which leads to cost cutting, an innovation incentive killer. Lean thinking starts with analysis of flow. The manufacturing process is divided into cells. Each cell represents one or more sequence of assembly and transformation processes. A tub is passed between each cell and triggers a series of events to start in the cell. The parts associated with the tub are built exactly and immediately. Any process or resource that does not contribute value in the flow is removed. Higher demand cells are place at the beginning of the flow. Cells can be run in parallel creating economy of scale load balancing. A critical failure can stop all the production. Quality teams constant analyze the flow for defect and workers in the cell are allowed to respond and communicate problems and suggestions for improvement. Lean thinking begins with pull. Customers pull products from the producer and remove the need for forecasting and excessive inventories size. Machines are equipped with fast transforming technology allowing for a diverse combination of assembled options for parts and products moving from cell to cell. Lean thinking is better

This is a new and expanded second edition of a book first published in 1996. Of special interest to me was what Womack and Jones had to say in the preface regarding what has since happened to the companies previously discussed. Apparently lean thinking has enabled Toyota, Wiremold, Porsche, Lantech, and Pratt & Whitney to sustain operational excellence and economic prosperity. Briefly, how do Womack and Jones define lean thinking? It is the opposite of muda (a Japanese) word for anything which consumes resources without creating value. In a word, waste. Lean thinking is lean because "it provides a way to do more and more with less and less -- less human effort, less equipment, less time, and less space -- while coming closer and closer to providing customers with exactly what they want." Lean thinking is thus a process of thought, not an expedient response or a stop-gap solution. The challenge, according to Womack and Jones, is to convert muda into real, quantifiable value and the process to achieve that worthy objective requires everyone within an organization (regardless of size or nature) to be actively involved in that process. Once again, in this new edition they address questions such as these:1. How can certain "simple, actionable principles" enable any business to create lasting value during any business conditions?2. How can these principles be applied most effectively in real businesses, regardless of size or nature?3. How can a relentless focus on the value stream for every product create "a true lean enterprise that optimizes the value created for the customer while minimizing time, cost, and errors"?In Part IV, Womack and Jones update the continuing advance of of lean thinking. They rack the trend in inventory turns and the progress of their profiled companies. Also of special interest to me was the discussion of what Womack and Jones have learned since 1996 which probably explains why they introduce a new range of implementation tools support value stream mapping initiatives and thereby "to raise consciousness about value and its components, leading to action."Obviously, even if everyone involved within a given organization is committed to lean thinking, to creating value while (and by) eliminating waste, the process requires specific strategies and tactics to succeed. Hence the importance of the last chapter in this book., "Institutionalizing the Revolution." I presume to suggest that the process of lean thinking never ends. Inevitably, success creates abundance; abundance often permits waste. I also presume to suggest that priorities must first be set so that the implementation of lean thinking process does not inadvertently create or neglect waste in areas which influence the creation of value for customers. Although highly readable, this is not an "easy read" because it requires rigorous thinking about what is most important to a given organization, rigorous thinking about the root causes (rather than the symptoms) of that or

Unlike most cost-reduction books, Lean Thinking has a strong conceptual underpinning for thinking about improving your operations. The authors move beyond the narrowest application of the lean manufacturing model (the original Toyota system) to explore key concepts like value (what do the customers want? as opposed to what do they choose from the limited options we give them?), flow (continuous production is faster and more efficient than batch processing), pull (letting immediate demand determine what is produced rather than sales projections), and perfection (thinking through the ideal way to do things, rather than just improving from where you are today somewhat). Providing this conceptual framework makes it easier to understand the benefits of operating a lean enterprise. People who did not understand the message in Direct from Dell would find Lean Thinking to be a useful framework.One of the strengths of this book is that it is deliberately full of examples of companies which took traditional methods in existing plants and converted them into lean operations. I know of no other set of case histories half as useful on this subject.The key limitation of this book is that most people new to lean manufacturing would not be able to implement solely using the book as a guide. The conceptual perspective, while being uniquely valuable, leaves the inexperienced person with few guideposts. Some of the key requirements are simply described as "get the knowledge" and so forth. As a follow-up, I suggest that the authors team with those who have done this work and write a hands-on guide. Much more benefit will follow.If you are interested in understanding how a new business model of how to provide your products and/or services might work and what the benefits might be, Lean Thinking is a good place to start. Most executives and operations managers have never seriously considered going from batch to cell-based production. This will open your eyes to the potential.Based on my many years of experience with improving business processes, you will actually need to go visit some of the companies cited to fully understand the issues and what must be done. I know that visits to Pratt & Whitney can be arranged and are very insightful. You might try to start with that one. One area may turn you off. The cited examples moved forward pretty ruthlessly. That may not be your cup of tea. You may be reminded of some of the early reengineering. My own experience is that such changes can be done in a more positive and constructive way. Stay open to that possibility as you read the cases. They basically all use command and control to create more flexibility. You can also use other methods like those encouraged in The Soul at Work and The Living Company to create these kinds of results. Keep that in mind.I recommend that everyone who uses batch and sequential operation methods read this book. It will open your eyes to

I rank the book amongst the better books that I have read along with the Goal. The book is easy to understand and yet is specific in certain systems and means for measuring waste in an organization. This is refreshing when compared to some of the books on lean manufacturing written by authors who are primarily catering to MBA's and other non technical personnel. These authors rarely have specific solutions and are full of buzzwords which their readers can quote in presentations and meetings, even though the concept may not be applicable in the environment they work in. The only disappointment with the book is that just like all other books in Lean Manufacturing, the examples used are always in dicrete or batch processing and never in a continuous environment with significant set up times which are inevitable. If you work in a discrete or batch process where set up times are small or non existent and inventory turns are low, the book is a great application.