Here is a very positive sounding description of a lean effort in the packaging/printing industry. This is short on details, but provides a decent overview of lean as a “total enterprise strategy.” That said, the article talks about specific tools used: 5S, setup reduction, and value stream mapping. You've got to start somewhere…
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Mark Graban
Mark Graban's passion is creating a better, safer, more cost effective healthcare system for patients and better workplaces for all. Mark is a consultant, author, and speaker in the "Lean healthcare" methodology. He is author of the Shingo Award-winning books Lean Hospitals and Healthcare Kaizen, as well as The Executive Guide to Healthcare Kaizen. His most recent project is an book titled Practicing Lean that benefits the Louise H. Batz Patient Safety Foundation, where Mark is a board member. Mark is also the VP of Improvement & Innovation Services for the technology company KaiNexus.
I agree that it almost doesn’t matter which tool you start with as long as you start. My last client wanted to start with Visual Management. There was some question at operator and supervisor levels as to where visual devices fit in strategically (another idea-of-the-month?) but with training and introduction of a management process to keep things moving forward, it stuck and other elements of lean/TPS began taking root.