Lean Thinking

The book that started the Lean movement by Jim Womack and Dan Jones.

Jim Womack and Dan Jones (in the wake of their MIT research) introduced Lean outside of Toyota. Their first book was primarily a description of the differences in performance between Toyota, other Japanese automakers, European automakers, and American automakers. In this second book, they go deeper into the underlying principles and characteristics of Lean, looking beyond the automotive industry.

The book consists of four parts. In the first part, many key ideas are introduced for the first time. As a result, the book still remains a surprisingly strong foundational text for the Lean world. For example:

• the five core principles
• the three critical management tasks of any organisation
• five criteria on which Lean assesses processes (instead of the traditional 'efficiency')

The second part of the book deals with a number of companies that look completely different from Toyota - and how Lean works out there. In the third part, the authors discuss shaping a Lean transformation in your organisation. The final part has been added for the revised second edition; in it, Womack and Jones look back on the Lean revolution we are in the middle of - and ahead to what can still be gained.

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