Staying Lean

Book excerpt: The first edition of this highly acclaimed publication received a Shingo Research and Professional Publication Prize in 2009. Explaining how to create and sustain a Lean business, it followed Cogent Power’s first two Lean Roadmaps along their journey. Since then, much has changed. Several members of Cogent Power’s senior management have moved on, steel prices have declined, and the credit crisis has sparked an unstable global economy. Set against these developments, Staying Lean: Thriving, Not Just Surviving, Second Edition reports on Cogent Power’s response to these issues—detailing how they worked through their third Lean Roadmap. It also: Guides readers with readily reproducible advice and an easy-to-follow model for sustaining Lean improvements Presents a case study of a successful multinational Lean implementation Covers a six-year Lean transformation from start to finish, illustrating the application of three distinct roadmaps Focusing on how to sustain change, the new edition of this bestselling reference, illustrates the experience of a multi-national company that successfully implemented Lean in its manufacturing and commercial operations. Based on a model of sustainable change, the text defines by example the elements of successful Lean management that are often difficult to emulate as well as the more visible features of process management.