Managing Lean Projects

Chapter 1

The Long Road to Lean

Lean did not just pop up overnight in the corporate world. It is predicated on a long legacy of other approaches that allowed it to become a reality, originating as far back as the 1980s, if not earlier.

1.1 Quality: A Short Historical Perspective

In large part, the rise of Lean owes its existence to the Quality Movement that took on, in the 1980s and 1990s, what was known as the Japanese challenge. Much of this movement was predicated on the works of a small handful of gentlemen, mainly American, who ironically seemed to receive more fanfare outside the United States than in it. See Figure 1.1.

Figure 1.1

The dynamic world of quality.

One of the first names in the Quality Movement in the United States ...