The softer side of lean

The article discusses how analyzing corporate culture can point the way to necessary changes. Many viewed lean manufacturing as the system for eliminating waste to bring in an era of continuous improvement for better quality) reduced costs and shorter delivery times, and as the ultimate formula to meet, or even exceed, customer expectations. This is the way to increase profitability The obvious step in pursuing lean manufacturing has been to go to the source, Toyota. The mystery is why so few companies outside Toyota and its suppliers have been successful in adopting lean manufacturing. The tools themselves are not mysterious. Indeed, most of the techniques of the Toyota Production System adopted in lean manufacturing are based on the fundamentals of industrial engineering practice.