ABSTRACT
Successful Lean organizations can be thought of as learning organizations, thinking organizations, or organizations of innovation through people. A truly Lean organization involves more than just implementing a certain amount of point kaizen events per year or Leaning out part of some product lines or office areas. The Lean Business Delivery System model begins with understanding customer expectations. Some companies start Lean by working on the culture piece in which case they may have some visual controls, or employee teams, which might have done some point kaizen events. Implementing Lean should become the job/mission of the chief executive officer, the board, and the senior leadership team. All team members should be 100% dedicated full time during the project timeline. The pilot team members return to their jobs or participate on subsequent implementations as desired. Lean training is critical to the cultural transformation of Lean.
