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04/20/2012 11:47 AM
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I am working with a company who wanted to develop a 'one sentence' defintion for Lean. I would be interested to know what others think of there idea.
"Lean is a logical approach to minimize gap between customer (int,ext) expectation and actual outcome at the best speed with the lowest cost.. "
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04/20/2012 01:13 PM
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Jay, a while back I asked a similar question and received numerous responses as follows:.
Lean is:
A process for eliminating waste
A process for minimizing the use of resources
A process for continuous improvement
The means to reduce manufacturing costs and lead times
The Toyota Production System
A quality improving process
A process of doing things faster and faster
A philosophy of manufacturing
Lean is something we can't define but will recognize it when we see it
A process for creating more value for customers with fewer resources
A process of walking around to find operations or activities needing improvement
A process mapping approach to collect process performance data
A culture
"When someone tries to define lean in simple terms, I always think that the definition or description should start with: Lean is the study of... but what comes after that however is debatable."
"Lean can be everything and Lean can be nothing. Its a symbol. Lean is what you make it."
"Womack and Jones have done a nice job of selling and developing easy-to-learn workbooks, but from the overall business perspective, Lean is lacking in its definition. We are no closer to Lean today. In fact I would argue we are running away from Lean."
"As a Managing Director I can tell you that basically every company does Lean everyday. Every company tries to improve. Some just do it better then others."
"Remember, Toyota does not preach Lean or sell Lean, it is just a company that tries to make as much profit as possible. Lean means nothing to them. Results matter."
My comments as a result of the above...
Is Lean even a procedure or a process?
Is Lean all of the above, some of the above, or none of the above?
Or is Lean simply anything and everything a company says it is?
Sam Tomas
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04/20/2012 04:27 PM
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Jay,
Lean in its purest form is free market economics.
The customer dictates quality and production. Anything else is waste.
www.leaneconomics.org
explained more in detail.
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04/20/2012 04:27 PM
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Jay, here's another interesting comment I read somewhere. This goes along with my previous response.
Note the Changing Purpose of Lean Over Time
It has been shown that it can be dangerous for a new idea, such as Lean, to become fashionable because it then gets pulled in many different directions that changes its focus significantly.
Sam Tomas
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04/23/2012 10:47 AM
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Lean is an Operations Strategy, where Everyone is required to take time, every day, to improve the way we do things, and where the resulting Competitive Advantage is translated into superior value to the Customer.
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04/23/2012 02:51 PM
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Regarding the definition of Lean, remember that the Original name for the Toyota Production System was the
"Respect for Humanity" system.
So any definition needs to include not just customer benefit.
A quick stab at this would be to say Lean is:
"A methodology of providing products and services that increases the welfare (economic and otherwise) of the producers, the customers, and all society"
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04/27/2012 11:04 AM
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Dan --
"Respect for Humanity" was Toyota's first step in executing their strategy.
They realized they would never get their workers to buy into a strategy of continuous improvement, if improvement would lead to job losses.
The company's first step then, was to promise this would never happen.
"Respect for Humanity" essentially translates to a policy of "No Layoffs".
It is indeed the cornerstone of Lean.
Toyota has been faithful to its promise, even when the consequences have included an extremely costly downgrade to their credit rating.
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04/27/2012 11:04 AM
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Jay,
I agree with everyone's comments; it's hard to argue against them. The ZEN of Lean I believe takes the discussion in another direction.
If I may......
"Lean is a state of mind, a way of thinking and acting, where the coin of the realm is time and velocity, NOT cost and efficiency"!
But , I could be wrong!
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04/30/2012 10:53 AM
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Bill, I like your definition but as usually happens when one reads someone else's definition, there is an urge to add further comments. So for what it's worth, here's mine.
Your statement that "Lean is a state of mind, a way of thinking and acting", relates directly to another statement that I like that there is no universally accepted definition of Lean, but instead, "Lean is anything companies want it to be as Lean applies to them specifically."
On your statement that "the coin of the realm is time and velocity, NOT cost and efficiency" (I like that), I would suggest that one way to shorten time and therefore increase velocity, is to become more efficient where efficiency is gained by reducing inputs (resources), increasing outputs, or both.
Like I said, comments for what's it worth.
Sam Tomas
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04/30/2012 11:42 AM
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Sam,
I couldn't agree with you more.
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05/01/2012 10:40 AM
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My personal definition is that Lean is the application of continuous learning.
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05/01/2012 10:40 AM
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A one sentence definition for Lean?
This is what I am using at my plant:
"Lean is a strategy for continuous improvement."
There is a conversation/explanation that follows.
Just my 2 cents.
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05/01/2012 10:40 AM
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Is it not astonishing that, in a Lean forum, no one seems to know what Lean is and the thinking appears to be that Lean is whatever you want it to be?
What did Taiichi Ohno, the creator of TPS, say it was......in one very simple sentence? Isn't this good enough for us?
What did Womack, Jones and Roos say it was? Again, in one simple sentence, in the book where the term Lean was introduced.
Jeffrey Liker in his book The Toyota Way says that 99% of companies claiming to be Lean are not. They are just deploying tools and are missing the point. I used to think this is an exaggeration, but not any more. It might be even be an underestimate. I guess it follows from this that 99% of consultants don't get it and 99% of us don't get it.
Lean a simple concept, as are the definitions..........if one can't see the elegant simplicity of the concept, as embodied in these definitions, and understand how all else is derived therefrom, one needs to think again and seek out the real meaning....... the rest, without an understanding of the basic concept, is waffle and leads to the 'toolhead' approach.
(For definition of a 'toolhead', read Prof John Seddon.)
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05/01/2012 12:14 PM
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This is what happens when the higher ups want a one sentence definition of something to rally the troops. I call it "sloganeering".
Slogans or sentences or whatever aren't going to inspire the workforce. Results by utilizng lean tools, and LEARNING will.
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05/01/2012 12:14 PM
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Well Kevin, I guess that say's it all..................
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05/01/2012 12:14 PM
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Isn't it also surprising that the APICS dictionary has no definitionof Lean. Instead, it asks you to look at Lean Manufacturing.
Kevin, what is your definition of Lean?
Sam Tomas
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05/02/2012 04:29 PM
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Originally posted by: 22767
Isn't it also surprising that the APICS dictionary has no definitionof Lean. ...
Not really.
It's not like they have any significant history with lean.
They weren't part of developing it, "discovering" it or introducing it to the masses when lean first started gathering attention. They were late to the party just like practically everybody else.
pc2
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05/02/2012 04:29 PM
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Kevin,
In a lean conference last year attended by Womack, Jones and Shook, They admitted that their definition of lean is incomplete. They are only focused on the factory environment.
That in my opinion is why 99.9% if not 100% of companies are not lean. I would even argue Toyota is no longer lean.
That being said its not difficult to expand the idea of respect for people on a larger scale.
Ohno learned from Ford, gives complete credit to Ford for the foundation of TPS.
So when you we need to seek out the real meaning and basic concept, I for one say you are on the right track.
Ford discussed much more than kanbans.
www.leaneconomics.org
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05/02/2012 04:29 PM
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Lean was the name given to the Toyota Production System by Womack, Jones and Roos. When Fujio Cho (Toyota's Chairman) was President of Toyota's Georgetown Plant he described TPS as applied industrial engineering and common sense to the entire system. When I remarked that TPS was more than just a manufacturing approach and that it applied to the entire supply chain he responded that I was beginning to learn. (This was after 20+ years in manufacturing, materials management and quality work experience).
TPS is truly a systematic approach to everything in the Concept to Customer value stream and continues to improve. Mr. Cho also said that we would always be on a path to improvement and if we relax and look back our competitors will run us over. He always seemed to make complex situations easy to understand - easy enough for executives to understand. He always had a long term vision in mind and fully supported the value adder - the person making the product. The goal of highest quality at the lowest total cost with the shortest lead time remains. Producing products of value for society and treating people with respect are important elements of the system.
Today, too much is focused on the lean tools and not the system that drives the culture of excellence. The "Devil is in the details" approach takes a lot of work but makes the difference in product quality and reliability and customer satisfaction.
When most people toured our Georgetown KY site they saw the visual application of TPS but they could not see what was under the surface. The same with some G.M. people who spent time at NUUMI.
TPS is not a "Japanese Thing" as many believe and Toyota proved that with successful implementation at NUMM, Georgetown KY and other facilities around the world.
You can analyze Lean and develop your own opinions but that is a waste of time rather than trying to understanding what it is. I have begun to believe if you have not worked in the system and studied it from withing a full understanding is not possible.
Ron Turkett
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05/03/2012 12:31 PM
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The problem with "the definition of Lean" is very real, and is explained succinctly by John above: James Womack himself concedes to having flubbed the definition.
So we know what Lean is not.
It is not TPS.
What has never been answered satisfactorily, is whether Lean is TMS (the management system), or whether it is some combination of TMS and TPS.
My feeling is that Lean is TMS, where TMS amounts to a relentless commitment to developing 'best practices', and where TPS stands as Lean's most famous and spectacular best practice to date.
As I noted earlier, and as echoed by Steve above, I think the first word that has to be included in a definition of Lean is to identify Lean as a "strategy".
Lean is much more broad in scope than most take it to be.
It requires much more than (as is often stated) "buy in from top management".
In actuality it must originate with, and therefore by driven from, the very top of the company (as it has been at Toyota).
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