Remedy: Bringing Lean Thinking Out of the Factory to Transform the Entire Organization

"Lean manufacturing has become a common focus, but its application in other functions like marketing, R&D, and finance has been problematic. The Remedy is teaching us how to cure Big Company Disease by applying Lean across our entire company."---Dave Faddis, Senior Executive, Kimberly-Clark Corporation"This is a great addition to the literature and is a quick and engaging read. Pascal uses his deep experience implementing Lean concepts in the workplace, his natural writing skills, and great visuals to bring the story of life and educate us along the way."---Jeffrey K. Liker, Professor, University of Michigan, and author of the Toyota Way"The Remedy utilizes storytelling to connect Lean theory with practical application not only at the functional level, but across the barriers of a complex organization. A must-have reference book for all leaders."---Tom Melsen, Vice President, Personal Care Product Supply, Kimberly-Clark Corporation"Pascal's ability to translate the challenges of real-world Lean transformations into the written word is uncanny. Building off his previous Lean stories, Getting the Right Things Done and Andy & Me, Pascal gives us all a story we can relate to: how do we `Lean out' enterprise business systems? This work is much more difficult than Leaning out factory-type activity, but the rewards are commensurate with the level of difficulty."---Allen Vyce, Director, F-35 Change Integration, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics"Pascal has done a masterful job of highlighting one of the most pressing problems facing businesses today-effective application of Lean principles to the `office floor.'"---Dave Brule, Sr., President and CEO, Northern Star Industries, Inc."In The Remedy, once again Pascal has managed to incorporate great principles into an interesting story. The Implementation Checklist and Study Questions at the end of each chapter are great learning tools."---Steve Pontbriand, Executive VP and COO, Northern Star Industries, Inc."Pascal has a rare ability to boil down complex subjects to their simplest form. Here, he really puts perspective on leadership's role in a Lean organization, and the `water ring model' is a great image for guiding leaders' behavior."---Jamie Speaker, Co-President, J.W. Speaker CorporationAre You Wondering How to do more with less by pushing "Lean thinking" beyond manufacturing into every area of your company? Meet Tom Papas, the hero of Pascal Dennis's enlightening Lean business novel The Remedy. As plant manager for New Jersey Motors Manufacturing (NJMM), Tom has used Lean methodologies and processes to ake his manufacturing operation a bright spot for otherwise limping automaker Taylor Motors. Now Tom has been called to company headquarters near Detroit to meet with Senior Vice President Rachel Armstrong. Will she offer Tom a promotion? Or will the shortsighted CFO J. Ed Morgan cut NJMM to the bone and negate all Tom's hard work?A powerful story for today's challenging economy, The Remedy doubles as a highly readable playbook for taking your Lean practices into marketing, service, and other parts of the organization where Lean hasn't typically been applied. Bringing back characters from Dennis's Shingo Prize---winning Lean novel Andy & Me, including the reclusive quality sensei Andy Saito, this new tale demonstrates how you can bring Lean processes to your entire enterprise.Follow Tom, Rachel, and Andy as they embark on a mission to revitalize Taylor Motors in the face of the U.S. auto industry's devastating meltdown.Do you want to improve your business, but haven't considered Lean processes as a possible approach? The Remedy offers a vibrant, entertaining look at how today's Lean techniques can be applied far beyond the factory floor.
A powerful business fable that shows you how to spread Lean business practices to every function of your business Pascal Dennis is a Lean business learner and practitioner who has written four books on the subject of Lean business practices. In The Remedy, he shows how Lean business practices can be expanded from manufacturing to all the other areas of your business-including design, engineering, sales, and marketing and all processes in between-and how doing so builds a more efficient organization at every level. This story follows Tom Pappas and Rachel Armstrong, senior leaders at a desperate automotive company as they try to implement a Lean management system across an entire platform, the Chloe, a breakthrough "green" car. The future of the company is at stake. Can Tom and Rachel, supported by Andy Saito, a retired, reclusive Toyota executive, regain the trust and respect of the customer? Can a venerable but dying company implement Lean practices to every part of their business and learn a new, more effective way of managing? Shows you how to use the Lean quality improvement method to fix not just a manufacturing system, but an entire company, including management, design, marketing, and supply chain Written by Pascal Dennis, author of four books on Lean practices and winner of the coveted Shingo Prize for outstanding research contributing to operational excellence Originally developed by Toyota, the Lean approach to quality improvement has gained a worldwide following and helped turn around enumerable struggling businesses If your business is treading water-or sinking in the waves-The Remedy will show you how to put Lean processes to work in every functional area for long-term business survival and success.