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The Lean Book of Lean

The Lean Book of Lean

by John Earley
Publisher: Wiley
Release Date: June 2016
ISBN: 9781119096191
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Book Description

An essential guide to bringing lean to your business and your life

The Lean Book of Leanprovides a succinct overview of the concepts of Lean, explains them in everyday terms, and shows how the general principles can be applied in any business or personal situation. Disengaging the concept of Lean from any particular industry or sector, this book brings Lean out of the factory to help you apply it anywhere, anytime. You'll learn the major points and ideas along with practical tips and hints, and find additional insight in the illustrative examples. Lean is all about achieving the desired outcome with the minimum amount of fuss and effort, and this book practises what it preaches — concise enough to be read in a couple of sittings, it nonetheless delivers a wealth of information distilled into the essential bits you need to know.

The Lean Book of Lean discards unnecessary specialisation and minute detail, and gets to the point quickly, so you can get started right away.

  • Understand the basic principles of lean
  • Recognise lean behaviours that come naturally
  • Study examples of lean practices, policies, behaviours, and operations
  • Apply lean concepts to both your business and personal life

Lean is about being agile, efficient, responsive, productive, and smart. It applies to any and every aspect of life, from the factory floor to your morning routine. The Lean Book of Lean is the quick, smart guide to employing lean principles every day, so you can start doing more with less.

Table of Contents

  1. Acknowledgements
  2. Preface
  3. 1: Introduction to Lean
    1. The definition of Lean
    2. Lean – the natural order of living
  4. 2: The Core Lean Principles
    1. Be customer demand-driven
    2. Maximise flow
    3. Identify and eliminate waste
    4. Declare war on variation
    5. Organise your people around outcomes you want
    6. Equip your people with the right skills
    7. Clear and simple measures and controls
    8. Defining your “Ideal State”
    9. In conclusion
    10. Note
  5. 3: More About Flow
    1. Know your limitations (aka constraints)
    2. The Whack-a-Mole game of constraints
    3. Some everyday examples of flow – or the lack of it!
    4. In conclusion
  6. 4: Lean Enterprise vs. Lean Manufacturing
    1. Planning vs. execution
    2. Priorities and decisions
    3. Supplier relationships
    4. Support functions
    5. In conclusion
  7. 5: Organising for Lean
    1. Turning tradition upside down
    2. Getting ahead in a PCO
    3. The football team
    4. Theory vs. reality
    5. The unfortunate but inevitable consequences
    6. In conclusion
  8. 6: Measuring the Right Stuff and Metrics
    1. What's important?
    2. The balanced scorecard
    3. Controls
    4. Decision trees
    5. In conclusion
  9. 7: Lean vs. Six Sigma
    1. Basis for change
    2. Incremental vs. transformational
    3. What comes first, Lean or Six Sigma?
    4. In conclusion
  10. 8: The Lean Mindset
    1. It's not just about what you know
    2. Lean critical mass
    3. Lean leadership
    4. Certification?
    5. 5S as a foundation for Lean
    6. In conclusion
  11. 9: The Dreaded Business Case!
    1. Business case, benefits case, case for action, best guess, what?
    2. Some business case bear traps
    3. In conclusion
  12. 10: Keys to Success and Sustainability
    1. Top reasons for failure
    2. How to avoid them
    3. In conclusion
  13. 11: A Few Key Tools
    1. Diagnostic tools
    2. Implementation tools
    3. If you don't have rhythm, you can't dance!
    4. In conclusion
  14. 12: A Few Words On Technology
    1. What's good, what's not
    2. Closing the gaps
    3. In conclusion
  15. 13: Getting help
    1. We are not alone
    2. Don't try this at home!
    3. In conclusion
  16. 14: Results, What to Expect and What is Possible
    1. Financial benefits
    2. Non-financial benefits
    3. So what's in it for me?
    4. In conclusion
  17. 15: In Conclusion
  18. Appendix: Glossary
  19. Afterword
  20. Index
  21. EULA