1. “Why not make the work easier and more interesting so that people do not have to sweat? The Toyota style is not to create results by working hard. It is a system that says there is no limit to people’s creativity. People don’t go to Toyota to ‘work’ they go there to ‘think’” – Taiichi Ohno
2. “The most dangerous kind of waste is the waste we do not recognize.” – Shigeo Shingo
3. "Many good American companies have respect for individuals, and practice Kaizen and other TPS {Toyota Production System} tools. But what is important is having all of the elements together as a system. It must be practiced every day in a very consistent manner–not in spurts–in a concrete way on the shop floor." - Fujio Cho, President, Toyota Motor Corporatio
4. "Improvement usually means doing something that we have never done before." - Shigeo Shingo
5. "Great companies will have strong lean vision in place with the Senior Management Vision and are working daily at getting on with doing a small number of important things consistently – day in, day out, week after week, month after month, year after year, as part of the middle management action plans. And finally the results must be visible at the Shop floor level. That is what make for effective lean leadership within companies." - TXM, Total Excellence Manufacturing
6. “A relentless barrage of “why’s” is the best way to prepare your mind to pierce the clouded veil of thinking caused by the status quo. Use it often.” – Shigeo Shingo
7. "Lean is about constant ticking, not occasional kicking." - Alex Miller, Professor of Management at The University of Tennessee
8. “Due to the set-up times, the tendency is to produce in batches that are larger than the order quantities. This supposedly utilizes the equipment more efficiently, reduces set-up costs, and reduces unit product cost. But any production in excess of immediate market demand ends up as finished-goods inventory. The result of producing these large batches in today’s competitive marketplace is poor customer service despite high levels of inventory.” – M. Michael Umble and Mokshagundam L. Srikanth. Synchronous Management: Profit-Based Manufacturing for the 21st Century. Spectrum Publishing: 1997.
9. “Sometimes no problem is a sign of a different problem” – Mark Rosenthal, author of The Lean Thinker
10. "Today’s standardization…is the necessary foundation on which tomorrow’s improvements will be based. If you think “standardization” as the best you know today, but which is to be improved tomorrow – you get somewhere. But if you think of standards as confining, then progress stops." - Henry Ford in 1926
11. “A relentless barrage of ‘why’s’ is the best way to prepare your mind to pierce the clouded veil of thinking caused by the status quo. Use it often.” - Shigeo Shingo
12. "Copying your competitor won't help you beat your competitor. You need to think beyond your competitor." - Gerhard Plenert and Bill Kirchmier. Finite Capacity Scheduling: Management, Selection, and Implementation. John Wiley & Sons, Inc: 2000.
13. “If we reduce batch sizes by half, we also reduce by half the time it will take to process a batch. That means we reduce queue and wait by half as well. Reduce those by half, and we reduce by about half the total time parts spend in the plant. Reduce the time parts spend in the plant and our total lead time condenses. And with faster turn-around on orders, customers get their orders faster.” – Eliyahu M. Goldratt, The Goal
14. “There are three kinds of leaders. Those that tell you what to do. Those that allow you to do what you want. And Lean leaders that come down to the work and help you figure it out.” – John Shook- Author of "Toyota’s Secret: The A3 Report"; Sloan Management Review, July 2010; "How to Change a Culture: Lessons from NUMMI"; Sloan Management Review, January 2010. Shook is a sought-after conference keynoter who has been interviewed on lean management by National Public Radio, Bloomberg News, The Wall Street Journal, and numerous trade publications.
Learn from John Shook, who was the first American manager at Toyota's operations in Japan! You'll hear why Lean leadership is the key in implementing Lean methodologies successfully. During this keynote, Shook demonstrates how to spread the Lean culture throughout your organization, and why you as a leader are responsible for Lean's success or failure.
15. "No single seminar, classroom experience, or “colored belt” will provide you bottom-line Lean results. Lean happens at the process…with your people, trained and motivated, fully engaged in the hot pursuit of excellence, as they follow your lead and learn to share and support your Lean Vision.” - Bill Hanover, CCO, TPS – ThroughPut Solutions
16. “Out of clutter, find simplicity. From discord, find harmony. In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.” - Albert Einstein
17. “Many people think that Lean is about cutting heads, reducing the work force or cutting inventory. Lean is really a growth strategy. It is about gaining market share and being prepared to enter in or create new markets.” – Ernie Smith, Lean Event Facilitator in the Lean Enterprise Forum at the University of Tennessee
18. "To be competitive, we have to look for every opportunity to improve efficiencies and productivity while increasing quality. Lean manufacturing principles have improved every aspect of our processes." - Cynthia Fanning, Product General Manager for dishwashers at GE Appliances
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