How to Prevent Lean Implementation Failures: 10 Reasons Why Failures Occur

The goal of implementing Lean/World Class Enterprise is to improve and grow American businesses by making them globally competitive. With the news filled with debates about outsourcing, and moving businesses overseas, being globally competitive while maintaining their facilities in the US sounds like just what American business needs. So how successful are American companies at implementing these techniques? A recent report from Industry Week magazine sadly summarizes the current state of implementations.

Industry Week reported that 72% of the 884 U.S. companies responding to their survey were in various stages of implementing an improvement strategy such as Lean or World Class manufacturing, Agile manufacturing, Six Sigma, TPS, Theory of Constraints, or others. Of these companies, 75% reported that they had made "no" or just "some" progress toward their World Class manufacturing goals. Only 2% of the companies reported achieving World Class manufacturing status.

Why aren’t more companies showing significant progress in their goal to become World Class? This book has answers.

Written for both experienced Lean/World Class implementers and companies just beginning the World Class Enterprise (WCE) journey, this book lists the ten reasons implementations fail (in order of severity) and what companies can do to prevent or recover from their occurrence.

A much needed checklist for successful and sustainable Lean/World Class Enterprise implementations. -- Jerry Solomon, VP of Manufacturing, MarquipWardUnited

A must read for Leadership Teams that take global competition seriously. -- Bob WInter, President, Winter & Associates Ltd, An Executive Coaching Firm

A very practical guide to avoiding the pitfalls and roadblocks that occur in every Lean Implementation. -- Robert T. Barnes, Executive Director, Maryland World Class Manufacturing Consortium

Provides a clear listing of the mistakes made within organizations and how to avoid them to help achieve optimal performance. -- Timothy A. Valley, Director, Business Excellence Consortium at the Milwaukee School of Engineering