By Jeffrey Liker and Mike Rother
Toyota’s success has inspired tens of thousands of organizations to adopt some form of a lean program. The term was introduced in The Machine That Changed the World and later in Lean Thinking as a new paradigm that was as monumental as the shift from craft-style to mass production. The focus of lean is on the customer and the value stream. You can say it is a pursuit of perfection by constantly eliminating waste through problem solving. Certainly an organization that is truly dedicated to becoming lean is on a path toward excellence.
Yet a large survey conducted by Industry Week in 2007 found that only 2 percent of companies that have a lean program achieved their anticipated results.1 More recently, the Shingo Prize committee, which gives awards for excellence in lean manufacturing, went back to past winners and found that many had not sustained their progress after winning the award. The award criteria were subsequently changed.2 Why is the pursuit of excellence through lean so difficult?
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