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What Happens After Lean?

Posted on Tue, Nov 10, 2009
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The concepts of Lean have been formally studied (outside of Japan) for twenty years - and far more if you include early versions of the technology dating all the way back to some of the concepts of Henry Ford.   What will happen next?

  1. The fundamentals of Lean never change and good organizations will continuously apply them to achieve higher and higher levels of performance.

  2. The principles of Lean will evolve as new technologies and business tools develop

  3. Like all business improvement methodologies Lean will eventually be replaced by a new approach.

  4. Something else

We have our strong opinion - but what is yours?  Share your thoughts by commenting on this blog and check back for the discussion. 

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Comments

Toyota has been using Lean for 60 years and isn't close to being "done". Seems to me that the US has lots more to learn before even thinking about the need to find some new fad.
Posted @ Monday, January 04, 2010 3:50 PM by Richard McCarthy
It won't be long before some consultant dreams up the next great thing - even if it is just new packaging of old ideas.
Posted @ Monday, January 04, 2010 11:20 PM by J. Forner
I foresee a combination of these options occurring as organizations that have successfully transformed into lean cultures (the minority) will continue to achieve higher levels of performance while those who are looking for quick hits (the vast majority) will continue to seek the next great approach due to their impatience and related shareholder pressure. 
 
What the vast majority don’t grasp is that all customer satisfying improvement methodologies are/have been/will be based on eliminating non-value-adding tasks and minimizing variation. So, regardless of the program name the focus and required cultural change remains the same. 
Posted @ Wednesday, January 06, 2010 4:59 PM by SSE
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