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Lean Thinking  By  cover art

Lean Thinking

By: James P. Womack,Daniel T. Jones
Narrated by: James P. Womack
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Publisher's summary

Expanded, updated, and more relevant than ever, this bestselling business classic by two internationally renowned management analysts shows how companies of any size in any industry can seize opportunities in the post-bubble economy.

Instead of constantly reinventing business models, lean thinkers go back to basics by asking what the customer really perceives as value. The next step is to line up value-creating activities for a specific product along a value stream while eliminating activities (usually the majority) that don't add value. Then the lean thinker creates a flow condition in which the design and the product advance smoothly and rapidly at the pull of the customer (rather than the push of the producer). Finally, as flow and pull are implemented, the lean thinker speeds up the cycle of improvement in pursuit of perfection. The first part of this book describes each of these concepts and makes them come alive with striking examples.

Lean Thinking clearly demonstrates that these simple ideas can breathe new life into any company in any industry in any country. But most managers need guidance on how to make the lean leap in their firm. Part II provides a step-by-step action plan, based on in-depth studies of more than fifty lean companies in a wide range of industries across the world.

Even those readers who believe they have embraced lean thinking will discover in Part III that another dramatic leap is possible by creating an extended lean enterprise for each of their product families that tightly links value-creating activities from raw materials to customer.

In Part IV, an epilogue to the original edition, the story of lean thinking is brought up-to-date with an enhanced action plan based on the experiences of a range of lean firms since the original publication of the book.

©1996, 2003 James Womack and Daniel Jones (P)2003 Simon & Schuster Inc. All Rights Reserved. AUDIOWORKS is an imprint of Simon & Schuster Audio Division, Simon & Schuster Inc.

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What listeners say about Lean Thinking

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Aaaargh, get the book instead

There is some good content here. I suppose. There's got to be, because Womack's work has been so influential with very smart people.
BUT, this is the best example I know of why you want a professional reader. Womack's narration is like a lethargic robotic toad reading aloud a tax return form. And I think this abridgement misses some of the good stuff. I was very motivated to learn about Lean Thinking, but still I could hardly listen to it. Avoid.

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28 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Good info, BORING listen

Womacks voice is possibly the worst narration I have come across. The information is exceptional, but is almost impossible to assimilate because of his voice. If ever there was an argument for authors hiring professional readers, it is this book.

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24 people found this helpful

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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
  • DM
  • 04-18-16

No full book

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

This audiobook is not the full book. There are missing some important chapter from the book. The audio is not good, The author is a good writer but not as good narrater

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11 people found this helpful

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    1 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

BEWARE!!!! The audible book is 4 of 15 chapters!

How can this be "sold" on audible - it's a quarter of the book! The hard copy has 15 chapters - there are only 4 in this audible version and I have been unable to find other versions. Not sure it this is an Amazon issue or the writers. Very disappointing and a waste of my audible credits.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Content that Will Transform Your Business

I have been part of supply chain management software support of a long time now and have gone through the various phases mentioned in the book. I've developed software to "optimize" the islands of production described and worked with others who would seek to "optimize" safety stocks. All because the process is broken -- we don't look at the entire value chain.

This is a must listen (probably to be followed up with a must-read book) for those seeking to transform their business or establish a new business.

My favorite passage is thoughts on low cost geographies and where to position fabrication facilities. The only time (according to the author) it makes sense to location production in low cost geographies? The product is overwhelmingly ruled by cost *AND* there is sufficient stability to create very accurate forecasts. Even then, you must consider exhange rate variances and political (here and abroad) variances.

Overall, this is an excellent listen. Additional literature is available, but I haven't found any follow-up listens on audible.com.

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7 people found this helpful

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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

It does not cover the entire book

I don't like audio books that don't cover the entire book. This is one of those audio books that you can't follow with the book

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6 people found this helpful

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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Not the full book

I bought the book and audiobook to follow along with because the content is hard enough already to understand, and come to find out this isn’t even the full book.

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2 people found this helpful

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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Not the full book

Buyer beware that this audiobook doesn’t not cover or follow the book after section 1

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

great book!

Lots of information, I had to listen to chapters many times to fully understand the concepts. All of the information was pertinent though and clearly expressed, just hard to wrap your head around.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent Summary of Lean

All what lean is about in a nutshell. Being an experience operations person, I think you can always use a good refresher of all lean concepts.
Highly recommend this book both to experienced and beginners in the lean field.

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1 person found this helpful