Lean Solutions, James P. Womack
Lean Solutions, James P. Womack
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Lean Solutions
How Companies and Customers Can Create Value and Wealth Together

Author: James P. Womack, Daniel T. Jones

Narrator: James P. Womack

Abridged: 4 hr 13 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 10/11/2005


Synopsis

A massive disconnect exists between consumers and providers today. Consumers have a greater selection of higher quality goods to choose from and can obtain these items from a growing number of sources. Computers, cars, and even big-box retail sites promise to solve our every need. So why aren't consumers any happier?

Because everything surrounding the process of obtaining and using all these products causes us frustration and disappointment. Why is it that, when our computers or our cell phones fail to satisfy our needs, virtually every interaction with help lines, support centers, or any organization providing service is marked with wasted time and extra hassle? And who among us hasn't spent countless hours in the waiting room at the doctor's office, or driven away from the mechanic only to have the "fix engine" light go on?

In their bestselling business classic Lean Thinking, James Womack and Daniel Jones introduced the world to the principles of lean production -- principles for eliminating waste during production. Now, in Lean Solutions, the authors establish the groundbreaking principles of lean consumption, showing companies how to eliminate inefficiency during consumption.

The problem is neither that companies don't care nor that the people trying to fix our broken products are inept. Rather, it's that few companies today see consumption as a process -- a series of linked goods and services, all of which must occur seamlessly for the consumer to be satisfied. Buying a home computer, for example, involves researching, purchasing, integrating, maintaining, upgrading, and, ultimately, replacing it.

Across all industries, companies that apply the principles of lean consumption will learn how to provide the full value consumers desire from products without wasting time or effort -- theirs or the consumers' -- and as a result these companies will be more profitable and competitive.

Lean Solutions is full of surprising success stories: Fujitsu, a leading service company for technology, has transformed the way call centers solve problems -- learning how to eliminate the underlying cause of current problems rather than fixing them again and again. An extremely successful car dealership has adopted lean principles to streamline its business, making for dramatically reduced wait time, fewer return trips, and greater satisfaction for customers -- and a far more lucrative enterprise.

Lean Solutions will inspire managers to take the first steps toward perfecting their company's process of giving consumers what they really want.

About James P. Womack

James P. Womack is the president and founder of the Lean Enterprise Institute (www.lean.org), a nonprofit education and research organization based in Brookline, Massachusetts.

About Daniel T. Jones

Daniel T. Jones is the chairman and founder of the Lean Enterprise Academy (www.leanuk.org), a nonprofit education and research organization based in the UK.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Logan on September 11, 2013

The concept of providing turn-key solutions for customers is not new, but 'Lean Solutions' definitely adds new intelligence to how the modern business can leverage the concept of vertical integration. The book describes a - conspicuously physical supply-chain oriented - set of examples of how solutio......more

Goodreads review by Alix on February 02, 2009

This is really terrific - and the EXAMPLES are really terrific. They are practical, and really help the reader envision what they are recommending. Plus, they give you ideas:-)......more

Goodreads review by Stuart on May 03, 2023

Not quite what I had expected from Womack and Jones, this book deals with consumption from the point of view of the customer and what they want/need from a company to solve their problems. Those problems are listed in six key areas which the first part of the book explains and then the rest of the b......more

Goodreads review by Mike on June 27, 2021

Seeing lean from the perspective of the consumer and how that dovetails with the producer puts an interesting twist to the whole of the value stream. Over the 16 years since this was published, the rallying cry has sadly been unheard. Their are echoes in cloud computing but it seems the selfish whee......more

Goodreads review by Effendy on September 03, 2018

In the turnaround strategies, educating and monitoring real-time cases requires streamlining each of those business portfolio is crucial. This is book where we could look into optimizing or leveraging partners, users/customers, and principal. The utmost important is to strengthening relation with ou......more