Product Description

Have you thought about using Lean in your business or organization, but are not really sure how to implement it? Or perhaps you’re already using Lean, but you need to get up to speed. Lean for Dummies will show you how to do more with less and create an enterprise that embraces change.

In plain–English writing, this friendly guide explores the general overview of Lean, how flow and the value stream works, and the best ways to apply Lean to your enterprise. You will understand the philosophy of Lean and adopt it not as a routine, but a way of life. This highly informative book teaches you:

• The foundation and language of Lean
• How to map the value stream and using it to your business’s advantage
• The philosophy of Kaizen
• Different tools to improve management, customer service, and flow and pull
• How to “Go Lean” within your business and across the industry
• Avoid common mistakes in implementation
• Seek out resources for assistance

This simple, continuous improvement approach that minimizes waste and adds customer value is changing organizations of all sizes all over the world. Lean for Dummies will show you to take charge and engage your enterprise in a Lean transformation!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #46108 in Books
• Published on: 2007-03-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

From the Back Cover
Create a culture that embraces change

The fun and easy way to do more with less

Competitive pressures force everyone to satisfy more demanding customers while using less of everything — time, energy, space, materials, and money. This no–nonsense guide shows you how to apply the proven philosophies and techniques of Lean to eliminate waste and maximize the effectiveness of your resources. You′ll see step–by–step how to implement Lean practices in any type of organization.

Discover how to

• Understand Lean and how it?s implemented
• Speak the language of Lean
• Identify and eliminate the seven forms of waste
• Construct and use Value Stream Maps and other Lean tools
• Engage people in a Lean transformation

About the Author
Natalie J. Sayer began studying and applying Lean before it was formally known as Lean. Over her 20–year career in the automotive industry in the United States and Mexico, Natalie honed her skills applying Lean and Organizational Development methods across functional areas of Fortune 130 companies. In 1996, Natalie was an instrumental team member in the Lean transformation of a GM facility in Matamoros, Mexico. The team was awarded the 1996 GM President’s Council Honors for the project. While working with General Motors, she had multiple opportunities to visit and learn from New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc. (NUMMI). Natalie has trained, coached, mentored, and rolled up her sleeves to implement Lean practices, whether working in a company or volunteering at a food bank.
She received a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering from the University of Dayton in 1988 and a Master of Manufacturing Systems Engineering from the University of Michigan in 1992. She is a graduate of Coach University and Corporate Coach University. Natalie is also a Six Sigma Black Belt and a Global Leadership Executive Coach.
In 2003, Natalie founded I–Emerge, an Arizona–based global consultancy dedicated to the facilitation of people and processes experiencing significant change. The I–Emerge toolbox includes executive and personal coaching, group facilitation, Lean methods, public speaking, and Organizational Development tools and assessments. She is a passionate people person, who lives her life with the convictions that “there is always a better way” and “change won’t happen without the people.”

Bruce Williams strives for perfection and added value as a scientist, educator, consultant, and entrepreneur. Leveraging the Lean principle of standardized work, this is his third For Dummies book in three years, having previously coauthored the best–selling Six Sigma For Dummies in 2005 and the Six Sigma Workbook For Dummies in 2006.
Undergraduate degrees in physics and astrophysics from the University of Colorado testify to his early pursuit of understanding the ultimate nature of root cause.

Customer Reviews

Not the best book on Lean
After completing a Lean course, this was the first book I bought and read. The text is very 'toolbox' like, dry and lacking case studies which for me meant it's both dificult to read and doesn't capture the philosiphy and feel of Lean (or the Toyota Production System). I've since bought at least ten books on Lean and related subjects and this doesn't match up well with most of them

Not for Dummies
Yet another Dummies book that I have recent bought, where the title is very misleading.

Lean is an exciting business tool used throughout the world to help organisations eliminate waste and improve performance. However, do not expect this book to tell you all the answers in achieving Lean performance. I found that it was not well written - boring in fact - with poor few examples, which is exactly what a subject like this needs, particularly for those people just getting to know the subject. My main gripe was with how badly it dealt with the "value chain" which is central to applying Lean in any organisation. Instead of makig light work and simplifying it, one comes away with one's head spinning, asking "what the hell was that?".

Sorry. Dummies - you can do much better.

Indicative of a flawed cultural phenomenon
So called 'LEAN' thinking is becoming increasingly pervasive. Often this is a diluted and poorly thought-out version of the revolutionary system introduced by Toyota. The 'for dummies' concept is the problem here: rather than helping businesses and employees understand the processes, this book perpetuates the dumbing-down process.