Mr. Lean Buys and Transforms a Manufacturing Company

This is the true story of how, armed with only Lean improvement methodologies, a specially trained Toyota Lean expert purchased a business he knew nothing about, applied Lean techniques, and succeeded in doubling sales and increasing profitability, before he finally sold the thriving business.

With humility and humor, the author recounts his successes and failures, introduces his key employees and their struggles with change, and provides motivation and simple ideas for all readers looking to improve their businesses. He captures key points highlighted in text boxes and includes illustrative photos and examples of Lean tools at work.

This story dispels the fallacy that Lean management does not achieve excellent results in high variation companies and job shops. Toyota’s OSKKK methodology is introduced to understand processes and guide a Lean transformation on the shop floor and in the office.

Greg Lane was trained as a Toyota Production System (TPS) Key Person and has turned his training into a career of consulting supporting companies on in their successful Lean journeys. He is a faculty member of the Lean Enterprise Institute in the US and an advisor to the Instituto Lean Management in Spain.