Product Description

An insightful look at the hottest new business trend from the authour of The Machine that Changed the World.

In their landmark book The Machine That Changed the World, James Womack and Daniel Jones, two of the top industrial analysts is the world, explained how companies can dramatically improve their performance through the "lean production" approach pioneered by Toyota. Lean Thinking extends these ideas to provide a rallying cry for today's corporate leaders.

After a decade of downsizing and reengineering, most companies in North America, Europe, and Japan are still stuck, searching for a formula for sustainable growth and success. The problem, as Womack and Jones explain in Lean Thinking, is that managers have lost sight of value for the customer and how to create it. What's needed is "lean thinking" -- a groundbreaking new mindset that is revolutionizing the way of the modern business world.

Using case studies of "lean" companies around the world who have energetically embraced leanness in pursuit of their own perfect enterprises, Womack and Jones explain this exciting new concept in fascinating detail.

Clearly demonstrating the simple ideas behind lean thinking that can breathe new life into any company in any industry. Lean Thinking offers a new way of thinking, being, and doing for the serious manager -- one that will change the world.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #84527 in Books
• Published on: 1996-09-09
• Format: Bargain Price
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 352 pages

Amazon.com Review
In the revised and updated edition of Lean Thinking: Banish Waste and Create Wealth in Your Corporation, authors James P. Womack and Daniel T. Jones provide a thoughtful expansion upon their value-based business system based on the Toyota model. Along the way they update their action plan in light of new research and the increasing globalization of manufacturing, and they revisit some of their key case studies (most of which still derive, however, from the automotive, aerospace, and other manufacturing industries).

The core of the lean model remains the same in the new edition. All businesses must define the "value" that they produce as the product that best suits customer needs. The leaders must then identify and clarify the "value stream," the nexus of actions to bring the product through problems solving, information management, and physical transformation tasks. Next, "lean enterprise" lines up suppliers with this value stream. "Flow" traces the product across departments. "Pull" then activates the flow as the business re-orients towards the pull of the customer's needs. Finally, with the company reengineered towards its core value in a flow process, the business re-orients towards "perfection," rooting out all the remaining muda (Japanese for "waste") in the system.

Despite the authors' claims to "actionable principles for creating lasting value in any business during any business conditions," the lean model is not demonstrated with broad applications in the service or retail industries. But those manager's whose needs resonate with those described in the Lean Thinking case studies will find a host of practical guidelines for streamlining their processes and achieving manufacturing efficiencies. --Patrick O'Kelley

From Publishers Weekly
There's a missionary zeal to this book for corporate managers: it wants to convert companies the world over to the streamlined production process pioneered by Toyota after WWII. Womack and Jones chronicled Toyota's concept of lean production in The Machine That Changed the World, and embarked in 1990 on a tour of North America, Europe and Japan to persuade organizations, managers, employers and investors that mass production was out of date and should be chucked for something better. They formed a network of companies and individuals dedicated to lean production. Network members, whose stories form the basis of the book, gather annually to update procedures and refine theory. Showa Manufacturing, a Japanese maker of radiators and boilers, for instance, pulled itself out of an earnings slump by changing from mass-producing batches of standardized equipment to producing customized small lots. Heavily laden with details, this is for specialists who want to streamline. It makes few references to the larger, global economy. Author tour.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From AudioFile
An expanded version of a well-known guide that apparently has a cult following, this audio provides a road map on how to squeeze the most value from a product idea, from concept and manufacturing to product launch and distribution. The writing and reading are conversational and include excellent examples from a variety of business realms. Womack and Jones offer a sweeping view of value from the customer's perspective. However, the focus is on efficiency, so creative or marketing types may drift off. But it all makes great sense and ought to be required listening for the new entrepreneur, especially if disciplined and conservative thinking is not a personal strength. T.W. © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Customer Reviews

Lean principles & theory... this is not a guide or handbook
This book is a very good introduction to "lean manufacturing". I would say it is aimed at managers or other interested people in implementing lean manufacturing in their organizations. It is a perfect book to gain adepts for the lean cause, so if you are finding resistance in your organization to implement it, you could give out some copies of this book.

This book is more a general reading book (basics & benefits, resistance you might encounter, etc.) than a deep study or detailed guide. If you need deeper knowledge of the different tools, more specific applications or more detail on how to apply them, you will require other literature.

Another introduction to the subject is a novel called The Gold Mine: A Novel of Lean Turnaround, both books address the topic highlighting different key aspects of lean, so reading both gives you probably a broader perspective. The gold mine goes a little deeper into the subjects and its emphasis on key concepts is very appealing.

Becoming Lean and Mean!
The only way to be competitive in the world marketplace is to be much more efficient. In other words "lean and mean." Efficient at engineering, efficient at manufacturing and efficient at meeting/exceeding customer expectations are all keys to becoming more competitive.

This book and their Machine that Changed the World are good resources for manufacturing facilities more lean. And...lean thinking leads to more lean thinking.

Using the Toyota system as a guide, Womack and Jones address how companies can eliminate waste and increase profits. They write:

"Our earnest advice to lean firms today is simple: To hell with your competitors; compete against perfection by identifying all activities that are muda and eliminating them. This is absolute rather than a relative standard which can provide the essential North Star for any organization."

Well written with many telling examples. Recommended!

The Re-Discovery of Common Sense: A Guide to: The Lost Art of Critical Thinking

A classic, must read
I was fortunate enough to participate in the Pratt & Whitney lean transformation described in Lean Thinking.

While it is not a "how to" book, it does a good job of describing the lean initiatives undertaken.

This book is a classic "lean must read."