Comments on Lean Blog: Lean Killed Rover?

I just wanted to let readers here know that Jim Wo...

2007-04-25T10:28:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to let readers here know that Jim Womack and Dan Jones will have a thoughtful and thorough response but we haven't seen the book yet. I've ordered copies; we didn't get any advance ones.

I did see the news release. A main assertion that doesn't make sense is the claim that the methodology in Machine was flawed. That means 90 plant managers worldwide who participated in the study had to have missed any flaw as well. I also got the impression that the books lumps Toyota and all Japanese car manufacturers together in its critique of "lean." Stay tuned.

Sincerely,
Chet
Chet Marchwinski
Communications Director
Lean Enterprise Institute

I think we have to see what detractors are saying....

2007-04-23T17:28:00.000-05:00

I think we have to see what detractors are saying. We should also evaluate what they are criticizing. Toyota, the company? Lean, the system? The way a particular company or management implemented what they called "lean?" We can learn from all of these things.

While my goal is to promote lean/TPS, my objective isn't to promote the idea that Toyota is perfect or can't be questioned or challenged.

I certainly encourage people to challenge Toyota/TPS/lean practices. I don't want my clients (or others) accepting lean/TPS methods "because I say so."

Not the first of it's kind, either. See "Just Ano...

2007-04-23T09:12:00.000-05:00

Not the first of it's kind, either. See "Just Another Car Factory?" about the "failure" of lean at the CAMI plant in Ontario and the recently released "Notes From Toyota-Land" which states that there is no such thing as the Toyota Production System and that Toyota runs unsafe sweat shops where workers are intimidated into producing. There are always going to be detractors. Until recently, the attitude among many lean practitioners seemed to be one of "ignore them and they will go away" rather than exposure. Thank you for your post, Mark.

$100, eh? Ummm I think I will pass on this one.

2007-04-22T19:44:00.000-05:00

$100, eh? Ummm I think I will pass on this one.

Mark,Excellent post. Though I haven't read the bo...

2007-04-22T19:28:00.000-05:00

Mark,

Excellent post. Though I haven't read the book either ($100? Maybe we need a lean price break.), denying the effectiveness of lean seems a bit odd. Unlike a controlled experiment, there's always going to be a fudge factor when dealing with something like a lean transformation: too many people, too many variables.

I'm guessing that the issue is with the way lean was implemented (or more accurately, *not* implemented), rather than with the underlying principles.