Separating the Wheat from the Chaff

[David Dodd]

I suspect that many of you were at Graph Expo last week. Despite the economic turmoil we're experiencing, the show seemed to be fairly well attended.

Lean was a significant topic of discussion at this year's Graph Expo. Several industry suppliers were positioning their products/technologies as supportive of lean objectives and techniques.

Certainly, many products and technologies can benefit printing companies that are trying to become "leaner." But we all should remember that no single product or technology will make a company "lean." Achieving success with lean requires changing the way you think about your business and, even more importantly, changing the way you organize and perform your work. Being successful with lean depends more on how you select and use equipment or technologies than on the intrinsic attributes or capabilities of the equipment or technology.

The important point is that managers should be wary of claims that a specific product or technology solution will make a company lean. There are no "off the shelf" shortcuts to becoming a truly lean enterprise.

 

[mattf]

I suspect that many of you were at Graph Expo last week. Despite the economic turmoil we're experiencing, the show seemed to be fairly well attended.

Lean was a significant topic of discussion at this year's Graph Expo. Several industry suppliers were positioning their products/technologies as supportive of lean objectives and techniques.

Certainly, many products and technologies can benefit printing companies that are trying to become "leaner." But we all should remember that no single product or technology will make a company "lean." Achieving success with lean requires changing the way you think about your business and, even more importantly, changing the way you organize and perform your work. Being successful with lean depends more on how you select and use equipment or technologies than on the intrinsic attributes or capabilities of the equipment or technology.

The important point is that managers should be wary of claims that a specific product or technology solution will make a company lean. There are no "off the shelf" shortcuts to becoming a truly lean enterprise.

David:

Thanks for the synopsis, glad to hear Graph Expo went well. Wasn't able to get there i'm afraid, but maybe next year.

As you say, many companies that try to sell products that will make you lean is of course all fluff. Its like the pills that will make you lose 30 pounds in 30 days. Its all a fluff! Its actually really dangerous to lose that much weight in 30 days, but I digress...

I've heard from many avenues that lean is not a product, but a mindset. Its something you need to instill into the people of a company in order for it to succeed. There are products out there that can "help" make it easier, but the main goal is to instill the people with the power to succeed within the company.