Jim Womack and Dan Jones define the promise of lean thinking as

“a way to specify value, line up value-creating actions in the best sequence, conduct those activities without interruption whenever someone requests them, and perform them more and more effectively. In short, lean thinking is lean because it provides a way to do more and more with less and less—less human effort, less human equipment, less time, and less space—while coming closer and closer to providing customers with exactly what they want.”

In his foreword to Jeff Liker’s book Becoming Lean, Jim Womack also acknowledges the tough job of putting lean into practice.

“Why is lean thinking and lean manufacturing so challenging to implement? It is not—as many early commentators believed—a set of isolated techniques, but a complete business system, a way of designing, selling, and manufacturing complex products that requires the cooperation of thousands of people and hundreds of independent organizations. A successful ‘lean leap’ requires ‘change agent’ leadership, a sensei (teacher) to demonstrate the techniques, a long-term commitment to the work force to inspire their best efforts, proactive development of the supply base, aggressive management of the distribution and sales system (accounting methods plus individual compensation) that motivates managers to do the right thing every time.”

My own experience has taught me that the best way to start is with what you have in hand, your operations, your deliverable. To convince the world, begin with changing something on which you have a huge influence, for the better. Before you start working with suppliers and other partners, create a working Lean delivery system within your organisation. Remember that the only person you can change is "I". You can't change others, but you can change the way you deal with others to begin with.

Good luck with your journey, and please help us improve this site by letting us know what has worked and what has not: in the spirit of kaizen, we pledge to improve our service to you.

Ravi Achanta