Electronic manufacturer Jabil’s website promotes its commitment to lean, especially its report showing the following:

• 13,000 kaizen events so far in 2013
• 322,000 completed in 2012
• 9,500 Lean Bronze practitioners
• More than 200 Six Sigma Black Belts

That truly is impressive, and I happen to know something about Jabil and know it is real. Those numbers are driving significant increases in shareholder value—which is a result of creating value for its customers. They are committed to lean, and it starts at the top leadership levels.

Toyota and other lean-driven companies are similar. Large numbers of kaizen events—or just plain improvements—drive productivity improvements. In the case of Toyota it helps a labor-intensive factory in a high labor cost country be one of the company’s most efficient, without automation.

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