About the Author

Jeffrey K. Liker, author of the bestselling The Toyota Way, is professor of industrial and operations engineering at the University of Michigan. His most recent book, Toyota Under Fire, chronicles Toyota's response to the recession and recall crisis. James K. Franz has more than 24 years of manufacturing experience and learned "lean" as a Toyota production engineer in the United States and Japan. He has worked for and consulted with various organizations, including Ford, Bosch, the U.S. Air Force, Exxon Mobil, AMCOR, Hertz, and Applied Materials. He also teaches for the University of Michigan's Center for Professional Development's Lean Certification course.

Table of Contents

Part 1: Preparation- Building a Foundation for Lean Flow Processes; Chapter1. What is a lean process and why are companies failing at it; Chapter 2. People and Processes Grow Together through PDCA; Chapter 3. Lean Out Processes or Build Lean Systems; Chapter 4. Lean Processes start with a Purpose; Chapter 5. How do you do it. Mechanistic and Organic Lean Deployment; Part 2: Toyota Way Process Principles in Action: Cases; Chapter 6. The Cases that Follow; Chapter 7. A Repetitive Manufacturing Process as a Baseline (CAT-Mitsubishi JV example); Chapter 8. Lean Systems in High Volume, Process-Type Case: Iron Ore Mining; Chapter 9. Developing a Lean System in Defense Remanufacturing; Chapter 10. Developing a Lean Systems in Health Care; Chapter 11. Developing a Lean Systems in Knowledge Work; Chapter 12. Developing an Action Plan for Change; Chapter 13. Verify Results and Make Adjustments; Chapter 14. The Continuous Improvement Cycle