Lean Kaizen: A Simplified Approach to Process Improvements [Paperback]

George Alukal (Author), Anthony Manos (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 2006

To compete successfully in today's economy, organizations need to be as good as or better than their global competitors. This goes not only for quality, but also for costs and cycle times (lead time, processing time, delivery time, set-up time, response time, etc.). Lean addresses these needs in its emphasis on teamwork, continuous training and learning, produce to demand ("pull"), mass customization and batch size reduction, cellular flow, quick changeover, and total productive maintenance.

Originally applied in manufacturing settings, lean has now migrated to non-shop floor activities: in business support functions, such as sales, customer service, accounting, human resources, engineering, purchasing; within manufacturing firms; and also in purely service areas like finance, government, and healthcare.

The intended audience for this book is any quality or operational professional who wants to start their lean journey or enhance their career opportunities. After introducing the concepts of lean and kaizen, various building blocks of a lean enterprise are described. After reading this book, any reader will have a foundation of what is understand today as "lean." All the examples of kaizens presented in the book are from the authors' experience associated with real lean transformations. In addition, the forms, figures, and checklists included as part of this book and also on the accompanying CD-ROM can be customized and used in the readers' own lean journey when they perform kaizens.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: ASQ Quality Press (April 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0873896890
• ISBN-13: 978-0873896894
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,316,842 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Lean on Actual Content, July 5, 2007

By 

Andrew Shaffer "Author, Blogger" (Iowa) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lean Kaizen: A Simplified Approach to Process Improvements (Paperback)

For a $55 list price, you get 174 pages plus a CD-ROM with various "lean" forms and checklists. The actual content of the book frequently replicates itself, repeating key concepts and phrases word-for-word in many cases. What is "lean"? Apparently, it involves cleaning up your workstation. One photo (figure 6.21) shows a workbench area "before" lean (with aerosol cans, gloves, and wrenches strewn about), while the "after" picture shows a nice, clean workstation with the wrenches hung up. I learned this lesson when I was 6 years old--my mother told me to clean my room, or I'd get a spankin'. If you need a book to tell you this, I would recommend the Lean For Dummies (For Dummies) book instead, as it provides a much better and balanced overview of the "lean" phenomenom.