Ever wish you could walk a plant floor alongside Jim Womack, the founder of the lean manufacturing movement, seeing what he sees? Now you can, literally, walk with Womack as he visits companies and facilities around the globe.
The Lean Enterprise Institute has just published Gemba Walks, a collection of Womack essays from the past decade that includes his reflections on the original essays and new material that looks ahead for the lean movement. Gemba Walks reveals how Womack accurately predicted the reshaping of the global auto industry (including Toyota's triumphs and challenges)—as well as the spread of lean (and need for lean) well beyond manufacturing.
I had the pleasure of assisting Womack as project manager for the book. What I came to realize is that Gemba Walks is so much more than a grouping of old stuff. But, ironically, I think its strength is that it is a body of work that has emerged over many years as Womack’s thoughts about lean were refined and expanded. Because of this it offers readers an opportunity to grasp what really makes lean succeed—or not. That solution has very little to do with lean tools and techniques, but very much to do with the heart of Gemba Walks: “Go see, ask why, show respect.”
Click here to purchase Gemba Walks from The Lean Enterprise Institute.
By George Taninecz, VP of Research, The MPI Group
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