Lean Confusion September 24, 2010
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in lean.Tags: lean
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Component shortages faced by Apple, and the production problems Toyota encountered, are blamed on lean methods; yet, at the other end of the spectrum, IndustryWeek’s Best Plants competition notes that 90% of finalists and winners have reaped great rewards through using lean. While some extol lean, others condemn it. Why the discrepancy and the confusion? Jill Jusko’s IndustryWeek article seeks to find out why. One of the reasons is because everyone has their own idea of what lean is because the definition is relatively subjective. Another is unreliable data about who is doing lean -and by what terms those companies and organizations define lean.
Check out the IndustryWeek article here.
Agreed. The definition of lean or the understanding of what it is varies a lot. I think most people are mistaken by what it actually is. I’m pretty confident in the companies that have actually implemented true Lean and that they are benefiting from it.
mjmckay
Thanks for the comment!
I also agree that the definition of lean varies a lot. Many proceed to build a case based on the foundation of what they interpret the label “lean” to mean in their own minds. Disappointing…and dangerous…especially when those people are business leaders, the press, or others in a position to affect or influence others.
As Womack and Jones’ “Lean Thinking” now goes past 15 years since its original publication and the popularization of the term, I can only hope that the community of lean practitioners works toward a brief, simple, accurate, compelling description of what lean truly is. Maybe that is what is needed to accelerate understanding and broader adoption?