The Lean Book of Lean: A Concise Guide to Lean Management for Life and Business

AN ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO BRINGING LEAN TO YOUR BUSINESS AND YOUR LIFE

The Lean Book of Lean takes Lean out of the factory and explains its core concepts in everyday terms, demonstrating how its general principles can be applied in any professional or personal situation.

Do you need to be more agile, efficient, responsive, productive and smart? This conversational guide shows you how to gain these advantages in every aspect of life and business, from your morning routine, to the factory floor, to the C–suite. Written specifically to demystify Lean, this quick, smart guide discards unnecessary specialisation and shows how Lean principles can be used every day to do more with less. Look inside to:

Master the basic principles of Lean Recognise and develop Lean behaviours in your everyday life Study examples of Lean practices, policies, behaviours and operations Apply Lean concepts in all areas of your life

Lean is about achieving a desired outcome with the minimum amount of fuss and effort, and this hands–on guide practises what it preaches. While covering all of the essentials you need to know, The Lean Book of Lean is concise enough to be read in a couple of sittings.

Acknowledgements

Preface

Chapter 1 Introduction to Lean

The definition of Lean

Lean the natural order of living

The shopping trip

Chapter 2 The Core Lean Principles

Be customer demand–driven

Maximise flow

Identify and eliminate waste

Declare war on variation

Organise your people around outcomes you want

Equip your people with the right skills

Clear and simple measures and controls

Defining your Ideal State

In conclusion

Chapter 3 More About Flow

Know your limitations (aka constraints)

Take good care of your constraint

Feed meeeeeee!!!

Keeping going

The Whack–A–Mole Game of constraints

The dish of the day is

And our latest offering is

Entropy

Continuous improvement

And the moral of all this

Some everyday examples of flow or the lack of it!

Traffic lights vs. roundabouts

The DIY enthusiast

The airport check–in

In conclusion

Chapter 4 Lean Enterprise vs. Lean Manufacturing

Planning vs. execution

Priorities and decisions

Supplier relationships

What can we now provide?

Getting the best deal

Support functions

Finance

Engineering

HR

In conclusion

Chapter 5 Organising for Lean

Turning tradition upside down

Getting ahead in a PCO

The football team

Theory vs. reality

The unfortunate but inevitable consequences

In conclusion

Chapter 6 Measuring the Right Stuff and Metrics

What s important?

Individual performance vs. team outcomes

The Balanced Scorecard

Controls

Decision trees

In conclusion

Chapter 7 Lean vs. Six Sigma

Basis for change

Incremental vs. transformational

What comes first Lean or Six Sigma?

In conclusion

Chapter 8 The Lean Mindset

It s not just about what you know

Lean critical mass

Lean leadership

Discipline

Leadership vs.management

Knowing the difference between accountability and responsibility

Consistency

Engagement

Asking the right questions

Process thinking

Transparency and visibility

Certification?

5S as a foundation for Lean

In conclusion

Chapter 9 – The Dreaded Business Case!

Business case, benefits case, case for action, best guess, what?

The financial justification

The kick in the backside

The motivational speech

Is it worth talking about?

Getting management bought in

Some business case bear traps

The devil s in the detail

Fit for purpose

Where are the big fish hiding?

The cherry picker

In conclusion

Chapter 10 Keys to Success & Sustainability

Top reasons for failure

How to avoid them

In conclusion

Chapter 11 A Few Key Tools

Diagnostic Tools

5 whys

Value stream mapping

Root cause analysis

Voice of the Customer

Implementation tools

Standardisation

IS IS NOT thinking

Good day vs. bad day

Kaizen Events

If you don t have rhythm, you can t dance!

In conclusion

Chapter 12 A Few Words On Technology

What s good, what s not

Closing the gaps

Traditional ERP Approach

Lean enabled ERP

In conclusion

Chapter 13 Getting Help

We are not alone

Partnering with other companies

Best practice reference visits

Forums, blogs and social media

Institutions

Don t try this at home!

Reasons to hire and not to hire a consultant

Getting the right help

In conclusion

Chapter 14 Results, What to Expect and What is Possible

Financial benefits

Revenue enhancement

Cost reduction

Cash flow

Non–financial benefits

Safety

Job satisfaction

Environment

Avoidance of . . .whatever

So what s in it for me?

In conclusion

Chapter 15 In Conclusion

Appendix Glossary

Afterword

JOHN A. A. EARLEY is a Founding Partner of SmartChain International LLP (www.smartchainllp.com) who provide consulting support to large companies to transform their supply chains. He has a long international career as both a consultant and in industry where he held a number of senior leadership roles, enabling him to see things from both sides. Lean has been at the forefront of John′s thinking from his early days at Rolls Royce Aero Engines through a successful career at PriceWaterhouseCoopers to his role of Global Head of Lean at AstraZeneca PLC.

John has learned what works and what doesn′t through over 30 years of practical experience in all walks of business and life. As a result, he is a pragmatist who strongly believes that a simple common sense solution, done well by people who understand it, will always deliver better results than a complex one which may be better in theory, but is more difficult to implement.