Lean and Six Sigma “Vastly Overrated”

From www.Lean.org

Lean and Six Sigma “Vastly Overrated”

“Well, all I can say is that lean thinking hasn’t saved Toyota Motor Corporation from plowing into severe losses alongside everyone else in this downturn. Tell me how lean helped any of the major automotives to get forecast demand at a ‘whole-of-enterprise level’ correct. Tell me how lean helped any of them (they all practice lean techniques in assembly now) to keep their assembly and distribution and other resources costs variable. They have all got too many plants, too many employees, and too many dealers/distributors (and now far too much inventory).

“Lean and six sigma are vastly overrated as whole-of-enterprise management systems. They are great for addressing inventory, cycle time, and certain aspects of operational productivity but they don’t add anything new when it comes to capacity planning and demand forecasting over the longer term.”

~ by alwyn on April 21, 2009.