Going Lean is One Thing - But Getting There? Quite Another

摘要

Google "lean manufacturing" and you will find a virtually endless font of information regarding formal lean implementation. You'll see definitions for Japanese words such as kaizen, gemba, muda, mura, kanban, and so on. You will also find other variations or iterations of lean, e.g.: Six Sigma, Lean Sigma, TPS (Toyota Production System), TOC (Theory of Constraints), JIT (Just in Time), and others. But at Forest City Gear and Winzeler Gear, while top management made a strategic decision to commit to lean implementation, they also decided that they were going to Americanize it a bit and lose most of the formal lean jargon that, frankly, might prove somewhat intimidating and confusing to company personnel.