In my last column, I called Lean Thinking a tool. Womack and Jones refer to it as an approach or method to improve performance. It is just one of many specialty implements available to improve your business. And when implemented precisely and sufficiently, it becomes a culture with endless returns. So what is this Lean Thinking?  Lean Thinking is an approach, based on the “lean production” process developed by Toyota to manufacture automobiles after WWII, to emphasize activities that produce value to your customer while eliminating waste (activities that don’t produce any value to your …

After World War II, Japan made a revolutionary leap from mass production to a new unheard of method of production, not because they wanted to, but because they had to.  The survival of their automobile industry after the war depended on their ability to compete in the global auto wars. This method of production so eroded the supremacy of American and European automakers' hold in the market, that it allowed Japanese automakers to gain and hold onto a significant share of the world’s market. The world paid attention and wanted to know how they did it! In 1990, after a five-year, 14-country, $5 …

A recession is typically characterized as where production, employment, investment spending, capacity utilization, household incomes, business profits and inflation all fall during the period, while bankruptcies and the unemployment rates rise.  Some economists argue that the latest recession ended in mid-2009 and that the past 18 months are better defined as a Lean Economy. Yet there is no formal definition of a Lean Economy or what it means to be in one. So let’s explore one view of a Lean Economy. It is generally viewed that in a Lean Economy consumers become very particular and selective …