ABSTRACT
The emergence of the concept of the lean enterprise represents an important advance in supply chain thinking, although its advocates have frequently been responsible for exaggerating its advantages. Because of the relative ease with which it may be copied, the competitive advantage that it offers can only ever be temporary and as such is not a substitute for an effective business strategy. The concept of the lean enterprise has undoubtedly had an influence on supply chain thinking, and indeed has done much to popularize the concept of the supply chain itself. In the process it has spawned a vast supporting literature. Yet somewhat curiously its impact on mainstream strategic thinking has been more limited. For the mainstream business management literature, lean enterprise and 'efficient operations' style thinking more generally, a business strategy–at least not a sustainable one. The emergence of lean thinking, if used under the appropriate circumstances, represents an important advance in the efficient co-ordination of supply.
