The benefits of lean manufacturing:

An overview of the benefits of lean manufacturing:

Bartholomew also identifies the benefits of lean manufacturing:

Increased inventory turns.
Reduced project defects.
Better on-time deliveries.
Reduced manufacturing floor space.
Better supplier relationships.
Lower IS costs (1999, p. 24).

Convis reported that over his more than 30 years of managing in different automotive companies, he found that to implement the Toyota Production System or any other lean manufacturing system required total commitment from all employees from team members to the senior managers, Everyone must be pulling in the same direction and committed to the system that is being implemented. One of the basic concepts in the Toyota Production System is a customer-first philosophy. TPS has a slightly different perspective of what this means. In this system, "each succeeding process or workstation or department is the customer. In a Toyota plant, we work very hard to ensure that all team members and all departments realize their dual role: they are at once the customers of the previous operation and the suppliers to the next operation downstream" (Convis, 2001, p. 64). This can only work when real or artificial walls between areas or departments are eliminated. The entire organization "shares problems and must work together to ensure that a solution is found. Therefore, it is critical for the successful implementation of TPS that all managers support this idea and aggressively seek to solve problems, even if they are not directly within their scope of control. This all-hands-on-deck attitude is essential in a TPS environment" (Convis, 2001, p. 64).