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Book reviews: Journey to Lean : Making Operational Change Stick - Publications Article
The article entitled: "Book reviews: Journey to Lean : Making Operational Change Stick" is in the Publications Articles section of Operations Management Papers area...
ARTICLE DESCRIPTION: Many books have been written about the tools and techniques of Lean, but this one is different. It focuses more strategically on what is required to envisage and then implement Lean across a business and furthermore to sustain the improvement and momentum.
MORE INFO: Book reviews: Journey to Lean : Making Operational Change Stick Many books have been written about the tools and techniques of Lean, but this one is different. It focuses more strategically on what is required to envisage and then implement Lean across a business and furthermore to sustain the improvement and momentum. Importantly, it examines the foundations required in management structures and performance measurement to sustain and guide Lean. For example the first line manager’s (FLM) role is absolutely vital in creating and sustaining kaizen throughout an organisation, and this is the first book I have come across where this has been clearly articulated. In particular it addresses the subject of team size (to allow the FLM sufficient time for improvement activities as well as day-to-day issues). A very useful framework is given to show how a number of factors can affect the optimum team size and hence that simply copying someone else’s ratio is rarely a wise move. It also describes the some of the less obvious requirements for successful Lean implementation, for example, looking at the communication required between and within departments, cultural and mindset issues and the choice of performance measures. The book is written in two parts. Part one describes the key supporting blocks of Lean, under the areas of the Operating System, Management Infrastructure and Mindsets and Behaviours. One of the key lessons here is that it shows how Lean is far more than applying particular tools and techniques or a series of ‘kaizen blitz’ activities. The second part is written in the style of a novel, and describes the implementation process in a fictional company. It describes the frequently rocky road of starting the Lean process within a company, and the style makes the issues easy to relate to. It has been written by three consultants from McKinsey, and so it does tend to describe their particular methodology and terminologies for Lean implementation, but there is no major harm in that. The authors have a range of practical experience between them (including Toyota), across a range of industries, prior to McKinsey. For those who are looking to understand some of the structural and intangible requirements for Lean (or perhaps are wondering why their own initiatives have not been sustained) it will prove to be a very useful book. Recommended. Tim Waddington , MIOM V2C Limited
PUBLISHER: Institute of Operations Management
Page number: 12 Word count: 380
Vol 31 - No 01 - February 2005
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