Lean Thinking - Banish waste and create wealth in your corporation

"Forecasts are always wrong. That is why lean thinkers strive to reduce order-to-delivery time. During the 2002 meltdown, this 1996 book went back on the Business Week bestseller list. We have added what we have learned since 1996 in this edition. Lean Thinking is more relevant today. Lean ideas are the single most powerful tool available for creating value and eliminating waste in any organization.

Part I: Lean Principles

Taiichi Ohno (1912 – 1990), a Toyota executive, identified seven types of waste found in any process:

• • Transportation. Unnecessary transport of parts under production.
• • Inventory. Stacks of parts waiting to be completed or finished products waiting to be shipped.
• • Motion. Unnecessary movement of people working on products.
• • Waiting. Unnecessary waiting by people to begin the next step.
• • Over-Processing the product with extra steps.
• • Over-Production of products not needed.
• • Defects in the product.

We have added an eighth waste: goods and services that do not meet the customer’s needs. Other authors have added: underutilization of people."