Lean Communication

Introduction

Communication Challenge

For more than 30 years, the tenets of The Toyota Way and lean manufacturing have been transforming the way companies think about how they design processes, build products, and manage supply chains. Today, the time has come for lean practitioners and promoters—like you!—to tackle the next frontier of waste, rework, and frustration: communication.

In our increasingly complex world, a huge percentage of companies and supply chains require people to surmount multiple barriers that deter them from achieving true understanding and agreement. The occasional lapse in communication may seem trivial, but the ramifications can be stunning. Consider the case of the Airbus A380.

Case 1: Airbus’s Billion-Dollar Bungle