Measuring and Improving Performance


Book Description

As a pioneer in Lean improvement methods, Jim Martin was among the first to suggest that truly successful Lean initiatives are those applied across every facet of an organization, not just on the shop floor. Building on this concept, Martin demonstrates that one of the most effective ways to implement operational improvements across an organization




Improving Business Performance With Lean, Second Edition


Book Description

This book is a concise introduction to the essential concepts and tools used in the Lean method for improving business processes. It constitutes a sufficient toolkit to enable practitioners to quickly start using Lean to improve business processes in their workplace. Alternatively, it can also serve as a textbook in undergraduate or master’s programs. This book succinctly describes the benefits of Lean in manufacturing, sales, administration, distribution, health care, and other industries, as well as providing a step-by-step description of how Lean is applied.




Improving Business Performance With Lean


Book Description

This textbook is a concise introduction to the essential concepts and tools used in the "Lean" method of improving business processes; it constitutes a sufficient "toolkit" to enable a reader to successfully improve business processes in their workplace. While Lean was first applied in manufacturing, arguably evolving out of the Toyota Production System, it is now applied widely to service and administrative processes as well. Lean, in comparison with other business improvement processes such as Six Sigma, relies on intuitive concepts rather than complex mathematics. Thus, a short, non-technical, understandable, and engaging text can successfully convey the essential principles of Lean and empower the reader. Besides describing the concepts of Lean, plentiful examples and brief case studies illustrate the application of Lean in different contexts including manufacturing, healthcare, food service, administrative processes, distribution, and retail. Besides giving a clear idea of how to apply Lean in various contexts, the examples illustrate which Lean tools are most appropriate in the various contexts. This book focuses on "how" to do Lean in terms of what the Lean tools are and how to apply them. What this book is not is an in-depth coverage of other organizational issues associated with the successful implementation of Lean. Because these issues are important, very brief coverage is included in the Section/Chapter entitled "Other Considerations in Lean." Each subsection in this chapter would be extremely brief and would outline the relevant issues, but in no way would thoroughly discuss these topics. References would be included here for those readers who wish to pursue future study in this area.




Lean Enterprise Systems


Book Description

Learn how Lean IT can help companies deliver better customer service and value Lean Enterprise Systems effectively demonstrates how the techniques derived from Lean Manufacturing, combined with the thoughtful application of information technology, can help all enterprises improve business performance and add significant value for their customers. The author also demonstrates how the basic concepts of Lean Manufacturing can be applied to create agile and responsive Lean IT. The book is divided into three parts that collectively explore how people, processes, and technology combine forces to facilitate continuous improvement: * Part One: Building Blocks of the Lean Enterprise sets forth the essentials of Lean. Readers discover where, when, and how Lean IT adds substantial value to the Lean Enterprise through integrated processes of planning, scheduling, execution, control, and decision making across the full spectrum of operations. * Part Two: Building Blocks of Information Systems explores the primary components of an enterprise information system and how these components may be integrated to improve the flow of information supporting value streams. Readers learn how information systems help organize and deliver knowledge when and where it's needed. * Part Three: Managing Change with IT demonstrates how the skillful combination of process and information technology improvements empowers people to continuously improve the Lean Enterprise. Readers develop the skills to exploit emerging information technology tools and change management methods, crafting a Lean IT framework-reducing waste, complexity, and lead time-while adding measurable value. Executives, managers, and improvement teams across a broad range of industries, as well as IT professionals, can apply the techniques described in this publication to improve performance, add value, and create competitive advantage. The book's clear style and practical focus also makes it an excellent textbook for upper-level undergraduate and graduate courses in business, operations management, and business information systems.




End-to-End Lean Management


Book Description

This is a complete and easy-to-understand approach to successfully implementing Lean principles. The text also provides a wide range of tools, techniques, and examples to support your systematic and continous Lean journey.




Gemba Walks


Book Description

In 12 new essays, ranging from the provocative to the practical and written specially for the second edition of Gemba Walks author and management expert Jim Womack reflects on the past 30 years of lean, and assesses the current state of lean today.He also shares thoughts on how lean thinking and practice can continue to make the world a better place by gaining traction in areas such as government and healthcare, provides practical guidance for how leaders everywhere can realize the full benefits of a lean management system, and shares hope for continued improvement on the path to better work and more value.Over the past 30 years, Womack has developed a method of going to visit the gemba at countless companies and keenly observing how people work together to create value. He has shared his thoughts and discoveries from these visits with the lean community through a monthly letter. With Gemba Walks second edition, Womack has selected and re-organized his key letters, as well as written 12 new essays.Gemba Walks shares his insights on topics ranging from the application of specific tools, to the role of management in sustaining lean, as well as the long-term prospects for this fundamental new way of creating value. Reading this book will reveal to readers a range of lean principles, as well as the basis for the critical lean practice of: go see, ask why, and show respect.Womack explains: - whatever happened to Toyota and what happens next to lean?- how lean got its name 25 years ago; a special essay co-authored by Jim and John Krafcik, president and CEO, Hyundai Motors America- work, management, and leadership -- what is the real work of the lean leader?- don't offshore or reshore -leanshore- why companies need fewer heroes and more farmers (who work daily to improve the processes and systems needed for perfect work and who take the time and effort to produce long-term improvement)- how "good" people who work in "bad" processes become as "bad" as the process itself- how the real practice of showing respect comes down to helping workers frame and solve their own problems- how the short-term gains from lean tools can be translated to enduring change from lean management.- how the lean manager has a "restless desire to continually rethink the organization's problems, probe their root causes, and lead experiments to test the best currently known countermeasures"By sharing his personal path of discovery, Womack sheds new light on the continued adoption and development of the most important new business system of the past fifty years. His journey will provide courage and inspiration for every lean practitioner today.




Machine that Changed the World


Book Description

Draws conclusions for the future of the industry in the USA.




Lean Thinking


Book Description

Lean Thinking was launched in the fall of 1996, just in time for the recession of 1997. It told the story of how American, European, and Japanese firms applied a simple set of principles called 'lean thinking' to survive the recession of 1991 and grow steadily in sales and profits through 1996. Even though the recession of 1997 never happened, companies were starving for information on how to make themselves leaner and more efficient. Now we are dealing with the recession of 2001 and the financial meltdown of 2002. So what happened to the exemplar firms profiled in Lean Thinking? In the new fully revised edition of this bestselling book those pioneering lean thinkers are brought up to date. Authors James Womack and Daniel Jones offer new guidelines for lean thinking firms and bring their groundbreaking practices to a brand new generation of companies that are looking to stay one step ahead of the competition.




Lean IT


Book Description

Winner of a Shingo Research and Professional Publication Award Information Technology is supposed to enable business performance and innovation, improve service levels, manage change, and maintain quality and stability, all while steadily reducing operating costs. Yet when an enterprise begins a Lean transformation, too often the IT department is either left out or viewed as an obstacle. What is to be done? Winner of a 2011 Shingo Research and Professional Publication Award, this book shares practical tips, examples, and case studies to help you establish a culture of continuous improvement to deliver IT operational excellence and business value to your organization. Praise for: ...will have a permanent place in my bookshelf. —Gene Kim, Chief Technology Officer, Tripwire, Inc. ... provides an unprecedented look at the role that Lean IT will play in making this revolutionary shift and the critical steps for sustained success. —Steve Castellanos, Lean Enterprise Director, Nike, Inc. Twenty years from now the firms which dominate their industries will have fully embraced Lean strategies throughout their IT organizations. —Scott W. Ambler, Chief Methodologist for Agile and Lean, IBM Rational ... a great survival manual for those needing nimble and adaptive systems. —Dr. David Labby, MD, PhD, Medical Director and Director of Clinical Support and Innovation, CareOregon ... makes a major contribution in an often-ignored but much-needed area. —John Bicheno, Program Director MS in Lean Operations, Cardiff University ... a comprehensive view into the world of Lean IT, a must read! —Dave Wilson, Quality Management, Oregon Health & Science University




Lean UX


Book Description

User experience (UX) design has traditionally been a deliverables-based practice, with wireframes, site maps, flow diagrams, and mockups. But in today’s web-driven reality, orchestrating the entire design from the get-go no longer works. This hands-on book demonstrates Lean UX, a deeply collaborative and cross-functional process that lets you strip away heavy deliverables in favor of building shared understanding with the rest of the product team. Lean UX is the evolution of product design; refined through the real-world experiences of companies large and small, these practices and principles help you maintain daily, continuous engagement with your teammates, rather than work in isolation. This book shows you how to use Lean UX on your own projects. Get a tactical understanding of Lean UX—and how it changes the way teams work together Frame a vision of the problem you’re solving and focus your team on the right outcomes Bring the designer’s tool kit to the rest of your product team Break down the silos created by job titles and learn to trust your teammates Improve the quality and productivity of your teams, and focus on validated experiences as opposed to deliverables/documents Learn how Lean UX integrates with Agile UX




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