In their landmark book The Machine That Changed the World, James Womack and Daniel Jones, two of the top industrial analysts in 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. By focusing on their existing organizations and outdated definitions of value, managers create waste, and the economies of the advanced countries continue to stagnate.

What's needed instead is lean thinking to help managers clearly specify value, to line up all the value-creating activities for a specific product along a value stream, and to make value flow smoothly at the pull of the customer in pursuit of perfection. The first part of the book describes each of these concepts and makes them come alive with striking examples.

As Lean Thinking clearly demonstrates, these simple ideas can breathe new life into any company in any industry, routinely doubling both productivity and sales while stabilizing employment. But most managers will need guidance on how to make the lean leap in their firm. Part II provides a step-by-step action plan, based on in-depth studies of fifty lean companies in a wide range of industries across the world -- including Pratt & Whitney, Porsche, and Toyota.

Even those readers who believe they have embraced lean thinking will discover in Part III that another dramatic leap is possible by creating a lean enterprise for each of their product families that tightly links all value-creating activities from concept to product launch, from order to delivery, and from raw materials into the arms of the consumer. This new concept takes the best features from the American, German, and Japanese industrial traditions and recombines them in a way that can be applied to every economic activity, from long-distance travel to construction to health care.

Lean Thinking does not provide a new management "program" for the one-minute manager. Instead, it offers a new way of thinking, being, and doing for the serious manager -- one that will change the world.

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

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 great potential to grow faster and more profitably.


A Business Paradox: Less Really Can Achieve More   November 3, 2003
Robert Morris (Dallas, Texas)
10 out of 11 found this review helpful

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 organization's problems, and rigorous thinking about the most prudent use of resources to eliminate those problems. Because of the importance of the material which Womack and Jones share, I strongly recommend that decision-makers read and then re-read this book before getting together to exchange reactions to it. Out of that discussion, I hope, will come both a collective commitment to lean thinking and the personal determination of each executive to apply what she or he has learned from this book in operational areas where waste has most diminished value.


Effective Manufacturing without any generic MBA language   May 28, 1999
11 out of 13 found this review helpful

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.


This is the business bible!   September 21, 1998
Bcreative@worldnet.att.net, Pam Mitchell of Strategic Pathways (Dayton, OH)
8 out of 9 found this review helpful

As a strategic planning consultant, I recommend 'Lean Thinking' to all of my clients. Some mistakenly view this book as a 'how to' for manufacturing companies. While it is, it is also much more. It is an attitude about business strategy. Waste, in any type of company, drains profits in one of two ways: as direct costs that they can see today, and as indirect costs when waste discourages repeat business. For any business manager worth his or her six figure income, this book is a must read.


Cut production through times by 90% and reduce inventories by 90% & giving the customer exact what they want when they want it!   October 26, 2006
Golden Lion (North Ogden, Ut United States)
10 out of 12 found this review helpful

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 than MRP. Lean thinking removes the slack time in scheduling errors and miscalculations in forecasted quantity amounts and types.

Lean thinking must be applied to all aspects of product creation and delivery. Lean thinking removes any flow issues associated with getting the correct product to the customer, quickly, accurately, and efficiently. Lean thinking replaces mass production process engineering and exposes process weakness and factories have tolerated and managed these failures as a part of the mass production cycles. Lean product exposes these weaknesses and replaces them with more feasible solutions.

Manufacturing Perfection is impossible, however thinking about perfection leads to inspiration and innovative solutions. Lean thinkers bring abundance to the market, transform nonstandard products into standardized products, and increase customer value. The value of lean thinking is continuous improvement in quality, design, and product.