Lean Turnaround (PB): How Business Leaders Use Lean Principles to Create Value and Transform Their Company

by Art Byrne, James P. Womack

THE C-LEVEL GUIDE TO SUCCEEDING WITH LEAN

"With 30 years of accumulated experience, Art Byrne is one of the rare few people who can speak with authority about the pitfalls of fi nancial measurement systems, the importance of respect for people, the power of Lean in the marketplace, and the leverage from organizing people around value streams. When he writes 'Go to the Gemba and Run Your Kaizen,' we must take heed." -- MASAAKI IMAI, bestselling author of Kaizen and Gemba Kaizen

"In this wonderful and important book, Byrne shows us that Lean management, understood and practiced correctly, consistently delivers spectacular results." -- BOB EMILIANI, author, Better Thinking, Better Results, and Professor, Connecticut State University

"A compelling picture of how Lean techniques and attitudes enable CEOs and senior executives to create a culture for transforming a company and putting it on a highperformance path." -- JERRY J. JASINOWSKI, former President of the National Association of Manufacturers

"Art Byrne provides real-world examples of how he exhibited the wisdom and courage to do the right thing, improving work practices at all levels of the organization to deliver the right results for all stakeholders. Which comes first, the wisdom or the courage? Read The Lean Turnaround to find out." -- JOHN SHOOK, Chairman and CEO, Lean Enterprise Institute

"Lean is the closest thing to magic I have experienced in my 40 years in business. I recommend Lean and this book to everyone responsible for the performance of a business, particularly those in private equity like me, where leverage magnifies the importance of cash." -- JOHN CHILDS, founder and CEO, of J. W. Childs Associates L.P.

"A must-read for any leader interested in understanding the strategic advantages from focusing on activities that add value to the customer experience." -- GARY S. KAPLAN, MD, Chairman and CEO of the Virginia Mason Health System

Lean isn't just for manufacturing anymore . . .

Few business leaders in the world have applied Lean strategy as successfully as Art Byrne has--and none has the ability to explain how to do it with such succinctness and clarity.

Famous for turning around the wire management company Wiremold, where he rethought every aspect of operations from the customer's standpoint--and got everyone else in the company to do likewise--Byrne has successfully implemented Lean strategies in more than 30 companies in 14 different countries.

In The Lean Turnaround, this legendary business leader shares everything he has learned during his remarkable career and shows how anyone can achieve similar results. His primary message is this: Lean strategy isn't just for manufacturing. In fact, Byrne is using this very approach in his present position at a private equity firm.

Whatever type of company you run, Lean can be used to improve virtually every aspect of operations, from training and leading employees to accounting and payroll issues. The Lean Turnaround explains all the ins and outs of applying Lean strategy to:

Eliminate waste in every value-added operation Deliver consistent value to customers Stimulate growth and add jobs Increase wealth for all your stakeholders Build a company culture of continuous improvement (kaizen)

Instead of attempting to get customers to conform to your way of d

Genres: Business, Leadership, Management, Nonfiction, Accounting, Cultural

225 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 7, 2012

Reviews

[Erhan Koseoglu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oldie but one of the goldies. A good mindset book about lean and agile despite the limited examples and updated practical advises…

[Vito Reed · Rating 4 out of 5]

really inspiring and easy to read guide, how-to, and fundamentals of, all in one book. the perspective is c-suite down, which can be less helpful for anyone not there, but the bird's-eye view is perspective widening. very inspiring!

[Jiliac · Rating 5 out of 5]

I may overrate this book because this is the opening of a new world for me. I knew nothing about lean a few months back. This bias taken in account, I can at least say that this a "to the point" book that does the job. It is very dense in content, so I may need a reread. (I fund there was some redundant content in the last third of the book though.)

I found this to be a perfect playbook:
1. Motivates by showing what are potential gains and thus what should be your objectives.
2. The overall principles.
3. How these principles should be applied in your day-to-day business activity.
4. Doesn't sell you without preparing for the problems to face: People's push-back, and the need for the total devotion of the leader.

[Gabriel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it not in terms of entertainment (which is what most of my other reviews focus on), but in terms of learning new ways to work. The tone is uncompromising, unrelenting, and backed by many astounding results. There is no toeing around the edges to softly get to the author's points here. No fluff. Thus, there isn't any wasted time in this management book like you typically see in books of the genre (it's also often seen in self-help books). The data was interesting and the delivery was effective.

[Antoine Bordas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Propose une méthode pour introduire le lean dans n’importe quel type d’entreprise. Donne une vision simple et inspirante d’une entreprise lean.

Les guidelines :
- lean is the strategy
- lead from the top
- transform the people

Lean fundamentals
- work on takt time
- one-piece flow
- standard work
- connect the customer to the work by using a pull system

Je retiens aussi le Hoshin Kanri Planning comme outil de pilotage des grands chantiers de l’entreprise.

[Dale · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. It is easily understood and accessible. It cuts straight to the point. It covers a very wide range of lean topics and obstacles. It especially gives good insight into the accounting realm of lean. This is not the front door to lean but to those trying to build the house, this book is a great help!

[Luke Gruber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible book on lean manufacturing! It doesn’t go into great details on why lean is so beneficial… but it covers the Birds Eye view perfectly. This book provides great summaries for a lean turnaround.

[Annelies itsallgood · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think I accidentally read this looking for the Lean Startup. Delightful surprise.

This book is 1 star if you are a human who likes Netflix. And a 5 if you like building things.

[Michael Ross · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolute must read for any leader in a Lean Organization or wanting to lead the transformation. The book lays out key strategy and metrics he used in over 30 lean company transformations.

[Brian Melchers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inventory hides waste. You are better off simply responding to specific customer orders. You should have just one piece of paper on your desk at a time. Look at what adds value to the customer and stick to those things, in order. You can cut down on set up and process time so much you would not believe it. Lean isn’t just a manufacturing thing. It applies to pretty much anything. Don’t just preach lean. Be lean. Good stuff. It’s mainly inspired by the Toyota production system in Japan.

[Bob Wallner · Rating 5 out of 5]

An instant Lean Classic.

This book lays out the expectations for CEOs if they want to experience the full, sustainable benefits of lean within their organizations.

The author uses his personal experience transforming multiple companies to bring some real credibility to the concepts. His ideas of the lean principles that are required are slightly different than Jones and Womack's Lean Thinking, but they don't vary wildly. The key point, that he stresses repeatedly throughout this book, is that the CEO must be an active participant, not a bystander, in kaizen to make sure this sticks. He also continuously stresses that Lean is a "people system" and developing your people must be the primary purpose of lean.

The downside to reading this book is that I want to go work for a "Byrne Run" organization. Every single organization I have been with the CEO "supports lean" but pushes it down to lower levels to execute.

Not a practical book for the lean facilitator, but an excellent book that EVERY CEO should read.

[Eduard Lopez · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must have for any Company (manufacturing or not) to boost its profits and beat the competition.

Lean is fundamentally a Culture change that identified and eliminate waste from the processes companies have implemented to deliver value to their companies.

As with any other cultural change, it takes time and leadership to engage the employees and management in such a journey. The results will pay off in such a way that will bring the Lean Company ahead of the pack in the market place.

Written by a CEO in multiple companies where he successfully implemented Lean, this book is inspirational for any manager that is willing to take the path to succeed in the marketplace, whatever the company is.

The book is full of examples and experiences that encourages the reader to take the "leap of faith" and decide to implement the Lean strategies in his company.

The book is not technical and it's an easy reading for anyone that was never involved in the Lean concept.

[Darius Daruvalla-riccio · Rating 3 out of 5]

[Read this as a review of the book not a review of Lean]

I found this book very boring. it took a lot of effort to finish. there is nothing particularly wrong with it. everything he writes about is informative and makes sense. the principles are probably useful and applicable to businesses. it's not really an introduction to lean, it felt more like a next steps book (which is good). it was just very boring.

I enjoyed lean thinking by Womack and Jones more but this may have been because it was the first book I read on the subject so the Lean Turnaround felt like revision. Even though it was boring, I'd still recommend it as revision and a next steps guide for lean.

[Johan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I ordered another 2 hardcopies after reading the Kindle edition. My mission is to get CEO's to read it and to change the way they run their companies. In short I think we need to get Art or. one of his Associates to South Africa

[Brad]

Solid book on Lean management. Like the one on Virgina Mason, the heavy emphasis on leadership is noteworthy and, in my experience, spot on.

[Colleen O'Grady · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book that truly gives ideas on how a Lean Transformation needs to be run. It reinforces how the company leaders need to be involved with the process in order to be successful.

[David]

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