Why Lean, Why Now?

Lean eliminates waste and as a result increases efficiency. As we move along the bottom of this economic cycle, being efficient is of great importance to any enterprise. With sales and profits constrained, every dollar saved is an important contribution to the bottom line. At some point the recovery will begin and that is when the efficiency improvements will enable an enterprise to capture market share from less prepared competitors. When an organization embarks on the path to Lean, there is often resistance from team members who fear that their position may be eliminated. Likewise removing waste and improving flow means lower inventory levels. Inventory reduction can make people nervous that they will not have the material to work on or sell to the customer.


Due to the recession many firms have already reduced inventory and staff. During the recovery phase, being responsive to customer demand increases is essential. The best way to do this is to increase productivity and capacity while reducing cycle time. Applying Lean thinking enables all three of these process improvements. Before the recovery, invest not in inventory that may become a liability but in the team. The people on staff are likely the best remaining. Give them knowledge of Lean and team tools to help the firm grow more efficiently in the future recovery. The team should view Lean as a means of improving job security and motivation. Management may even need to guarantee that no staff reductions will be the result of implementing Lean.

If the recovery is delayed, an enterprise can use Lean training to fill some of the staff time. Rather than furloughs and temporary layoffs, start a series of Lean classes. Getting a Lean organization in place will allow the business to cope best with the changes in demand. Meeting these will preserve or improve your service level target with customers. Highly constrained businesses of today need the flexibility of a Lean system to cope with demand adjustments. Coping with demand adjustments enables capturing of market share.

Lean will provide the enterprise with beneficial savings at the bottom of the economic cycle and be an advantage in the recovery period.  These are the reasons Lean should be implemented and implemented now.