Back to Work In his previous Article, Jim Womack asked readers of his monthly e-letter to share their concerns about where we go from here in the Lean Community. He received over 300 responses, and, in this Article, he categorizes and summarizes the responses into five major themes and five major experiments. Anyone interested in […]
James Womack
Management expert James P. Womack, Ph.D., is the founder and chairman of the Lean Enterprise Institute, a nonprofit training, publishing, conferencing, and management research organization chartered in August, 1997, to advance a set of ideas known as lean production and lean thinking, based initially on the Toyota Production System.
Beyond Toyota
May 4, 2010 , By
Beyond Toyota Jim Womack, Founder and Chairman of the Lean Enterprise Institute, urges us to look beyond Toyota and create management systems and organizations that can practice (not just preach) Lean every day, year after year. He exhorts Lean advocates to work at creating sustainable Lean Enterprises in every industry, in every country. Read this, […]
General Motors—What’s Next?
July 7, 2009 , By
General Motors—What’s Next? In this Article, Jim Womack, Founder and Chairman of the Lean Enterprise Institute, provides an insightful examination of the decline of General Motors, a decline that he believes began in the recession of 1979. To learn his thoughts on what’s next—not just for GM but for Lean as well, read his compelling […]
From Staffs Conducting Programs to Line Managers Solving Problems
November 4, 2008 , By
From Staffs Conducting Programs to Line Managers Solving Problems James Womack describes a scenario that he frequently encounters when visiting organizations where Lean Programs have existed for several years. He is often asked by team members why their successful Lean initiatives don’t translate to bottom line improvement. This Article is a must read for any […]
Respect for People
February 4, 2008 , By
Respect for People James Womack’s notion of “respect for people,” a core value in most corporations, may surprise you. In this Article, he compares and contrasts the implementation of that value in two distribution centers in the same city. The results are fascinating and well worth the read.
The Challenge of Lean Transformation
January 2, 2007 , By
The Challenge of Lean Transformation Read Jim Womack’s astute observations on the current state of Lean Management and his proposal for three simple elements of Lean Management worthy of experimentation.
A Tale of Two Business Systems
April 3, 2006 , By
A Tale of Two Business Systems In 1990, James Womack joined with Dan Jones and Dan Roos to co-author The Machine That Changed The World – a description of how Toyota was using Lean techniques to change auto manufacturing. In this thoughtful article Womack, who now heads the Lean Enterprise Institute, reflects on what has […]
