| Lean ThinkingSM |
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Lean ThinkingSM
is an integrated set of industrial principles and methods first developed
by James P. Womack and Daniel T. Jones and articulated in their landmark 1996 book Lean
Thinking (Simon & Schuster). It grew out of the authors' groundbreaking study of
the Japanese automobile industry, The Machine That Changed the World (Simon &
Schuster), and it continues to be refined and promulgated through the work of the Lean
Enterprise Institute. Lean Thinking enables companies to find the best way to specify
value for the customer, to identify the value stream for each product, to cause the
product to flow smoothly from concept to customer, to permit the customer to pull value as
needed from the producer, and to make a lean leap toward perfection. The concept of
value, value stream, flow, pull, and perfection are
deployed by means of lean techniques for product development, production,
purchasing, and customer support.
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© 1997-2008 by the Lean Enterprise Institute. All rights reserved.
