Observations on the Lean-Industrial Complex

Whose interests does it really serve?

During the early days, late 1970s to late 1980s, there existed just a few small organizations to help people learn about and implement Toyota’s production system (TPS). They were led by people with decades of hand-on practice at Toyota and its affiliated companies. Some organizations, however, were led by people who only studied TPS and judged that to be sufficient qualification to engage in training and consulting.

Then in 1990, along came “lean production,” the generic name given to TPS. For many of us, this and subsequent writing about lean production were a great revelation. Inspired and enthusiastic, we began our so-called lean journeys. During the mid- to late-1990s, more organizations emerged to service a growing interest in the many related facets of lean production: accounting, new product development, training and development, information technology, and so on. Around 2007, the focus finally shifted from lean production to lean management, with a new emphasis on lean leadership.

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Comments

Similar to "Six Sigma" and ISO

Thought provoking article.

Of course the Lean-Industrial complex is out to make money for itself. We are a capitalist country after all. I see the same thing with Product Quality Improvement. The name Six Sigma took off in much the same way that the name Lean did and then the consultants came. and of course let's not forget the ISO-industrial complex.

Caveat Emptor. Within industry it is our responsibility to be able to see beyond the quick and easy (as Deming said: there is no instant pudding). We need to be able to gain a deep understanding of these things, we need to study, we need to experiment, we need to apply continual improvement to our continual improvement efforts. This takes effort, time and resolve. While our society has become even more impatient, looking for instant gratification, we need sources of true learning. So I don't see that blogs, articles, books, forums, conferences, etc. are bad per se. We need places to ask questions, to seek advice and knowledge to share success.

nice article!