Lean Thinking Book Review

Daniel T. Jones and James P. Womack are the founders of Lean Institute and also writers of many important business books. Their first books The Machine That Change the World published in 1990 rather drew attention in business world. The book which is published after years of studies is a benchmark study in automobile sector. This book showed that Toyota is ahead on many fields in the sector. People started to research Toyota Production System(TPS) and implement it in their companies. Daniel and James saw that companies are lacking in information on the implementation duration and decided to write Lean Thinking book.

Lean Thinking published in 1996 is exactly a guide and reference book. Writers has reached their goals in this sense. Readers turn the relevant pages which they are lack in implementation in their works and read again and again after finishing. I also annotated much on book for helping myself in next readings. I really liked the sequence of issues in the book. Firstly, 5 main lean principles are explained one by one. Then, real examples which lean manufacturing is implemented are given from different sectors and companies in different sizes. Writers want that any prejudice or excuse doesn’t occur. I don’t suppose that a person who reads Lean Thinking can’t say that lean manufacturing can’t be implemented in our factory. After all information, there is a action plan part in detail. What you must do respectively in the duration, which speed is normal, common mistakes and results you must get are explained. Shortly, there is a road map from beginning to end. Lastly, offers and ideas of writers about how lean thinking can go further are presented and how can be used in different sectors is told. Some offers or examples are implemented today. The book is firstly published in 1996 as I said before, after it is expanded with addings in 2003. Most of offers are not implemented still today although the publishing date is old. Potential implementations in different sectors are very few also. Validity of book is still maintained in this sense. This situation shows that writers are how farsighted.

There are some notes I took when I read especially and some parts which they drew my attention comparing with other lean books.

• Toyota is praised and exemplified when the issue is lean as a matter of course. After permission is got, Toyota’s operational lacks and reasons of not going further although they are lean are told in the book. I firstly saw that Toyota is criticized about lean. I think this is very valuable and suprising .

• There are personnels’ comments, encountered difficulties, questions come to mind when the lean is being implemented. Everything in the book clearly shows that book is published with observing production environment. Therefore writings are not theoretical writings. An engineer who works with TPS in his/her factory will see his/her cell, company or white and blue collar colleagues most probably.

• Lean transformation in world-famous brand Porsche is explained. 

• One of obstacles in lean’s going further is unsuccessful advisors. The fact that unsuccessful implementations increase prejudice against lean is real. It is explained also how lean advisors should be. Company managers especially must pay attention to this issue.

• There are parts about 2 sensei who worked in Toyota for years and they are working as advisors now. They change the machines’ places and get results fastly when they go the firms. A good example against to the idea that lean transformation is a slow process.

• The example of Art Byrne’s successful implementation in Wiremold company is given as a hard implementation example. This implemetation is also told in the Lean Turnaround book of Art Byrne in detail.

Who is suitable for book? It can be theoretical for students who want to improve themselves about lean. If you did your internship in a lean company, it can be more suitable and enjoyable. It is a reference book for engineers and managers who implement lean manufacturing in their factories. There are many examples from different cultures or different company sizes. You will definitely find your own story in somewhere in book and it will provides to expand your work.