Valuing Lean Manufacturing Initiatives

Companies have adopted Lean Manufacturing as a way to reduce costs, better satisfy customers, and increase profitability. In the process of becoming lean, companies must identify and prioritize the initiatives and projects they will undertake to become lean. This report outlines a discipline for identifying and planning Lean Manufacturing initiatives, including the selection of metrics by which to evaluate and track the results of the projects. It offers a methodology for linking the goals and metrics of a project or initiative to a company's strategic goals and metrics and provides the basis for tracking the effectiveness of implementation of lean initiatives. Authors: James A. Jordan, Jr., Frederick J. Michel, NGM Knowledge Systems, Cupertino, CA.