“Lean manufacturing”, “Six Sigma, “Just in Time”, “Kanban”..... a management consultant’s sales babble or a practical way of whipping your business into shape?

Aug 5 2008 by jez Davison, Evening Gazette

With soaring raw materials, energy and fuel costs squeezing margins (dry, in some cases), companies are desperately searching for ways to become leaner and meaner.

And with twenty-first century manufacturing projects requiring top class engineering skills, axing half your workforce might not be the brightest idea.

Enter LEAN. Hailed originally as a widget-maker’s saviour in hard times, it’s spreading like wildfire through Teesside’s complex service sector.

But while exponents of lean have benefited from huge efficiency savings, a widespread misunderstanding of the concept has prevented others from making the “lean leap” into the unknown.....