Journey to Lean: Making Operational Change Stick

Management Services, Autumn 2006

Journey to Lean: Making Operational Change Stick, by John Drew, Blair McCallum and Stefan Roggenhoffer Published by Palgrave MacMillan, 2004 ISBN 13-978-1-403-91307-4

The authors of this book work for Mckinsey and company and have extensive knowledge of lean manufacturing and experience of implementing it in client companies. This publication was voted the book of the year in 2004 by the Management Consultants Association. The book covers all the main points of what a lean system involves, but at the same time it gives numerous examples from various industries. It covers all the aspects that need to be considered in a lean transformation and explains how they are interconnected, as well as the common reasons for failure of many lean initiatives. This book would be very useful to anyone who is contemplating embarking on a lean transformation journey and can be easily read.

There are many examples drawn from work carried out by the authors in companies around the world. What is clear is that lean is not a project with a finite ending - it is a never ending quest for perfection.