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Mapping a lean strategy

By ROBERT MARTICHENKO and KEVIN VON GRABE

Ask the right questions about the current state of your supply chain, and you'll get the answers you need to create a lean operation for the future. Two experts explain how to do it.

From the Quarter 02 2007 issue

The following article contains content excerpted from the upcoming book Designing and Implementing Lean in Your Supply Chain, to be published by the Lean Enterprise Institute, Cambridge, Mass. (www.lean.org)

At the turn of the century, Toyota Motor Manufacturing set a goal of being the number one car manufacturer in the world by 2010. In April 2007, the company reached that goal, three years ahead of schedule. But the truth is that Toyota has been the top automaker for many years, when judged by more important measures such as market capitalization, quality, sales growth, and profitability. In fact, it is not uncommon for Toyota's annual net profit to exceed that of the traditional Big Three carmakers combined. Why the success? Simply put, it's the Toyota Production System....

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