George Koenigsaecker wished someone had told him what he's telling others. While he was responsible for starting eleven companies on their lean journeys, he explains his lessons learned were the "results of multiple trail-and-error experiments, where I implemented a variety of leadership practices." Now he wants to save other manufacturing executives some valuable time. His book, Leading the Lean Enterprise Transformation is the missing link. He offers this book as a guide for leaders to not only build, but more importantly, to maintain lean efforts.
In the book he examines the tools of the lean trade and explores some of the lean implementations that he was involved in during his work with Deere & Company, Rockwell International, Jake Brake (Danaher) and Hon.
The secret to his success, as all of these companies are still on their lean journeys many years later, is the development of a culture. "The true power," he told me during an interview, "is to create a sustainable culture. Leaders need to be humble and be good students. It's a lifelong journey."
One of the keys to sustainability is learning what you need to measure. Using Toyota's True North Metrics, he says, good things happen. The four metrics are:
- Quality improvement
- Delivery/lead time/flow improvement
- Cost/Productivity Improvement
- Human development
