Lean management, a five-decade-old philosophy, is now being applied beyond the shop floors. It is gaining traction in other sectors too, instead of just being confined to manufacturing houses. During the last two decades, many greenfield manufacturers have successfully demonstrated the value of converting to lean. But the question `how to transform into lean', yet remains unanswered. This article attempts to provide an answer.

How fast can we deliver the best? Are the systems productive? Which procedures are `unwanted'? Can we eliminate non-value adding steps? What actions require improvement? Did we attain `zero-waste, zero-defect' everywhere? How efficient are our human resources? Are we reinventing cycles? Is the inventory idle? Array of such introspecting questions are the most valued ones, which firms should always continue to ask themselves honestly if they desire to deliver the best. Only those that seek to answer these on a sustained basis can emerge successful. When such questions are answered with commitment, organizations can surface as total productive enterprises. Such inward tendency to be productive by removing the waste in any form1 is popularly known as `lean' or `lean thinking.' Lean philosophy is not new to the world of business. It originated and evolved in the Japanese factory floors. Being enthusiastically practiced at Toyota, the lean principles were widely accepted across the manufacturing world. Lean manufacturing is known by different names: Zero inventory production, stockless production (Hewlett Packard), material-as-needed (Harley-Davidson), continuous flow manufacturing (IBM), and management by sight (GE). Toyota Production System (TPS) is the most admired lean manufacturing system. Lean Manufacturing is the generic version of TPS. Concepts commonly used in TPS are Just-in-Time (JIT), Jidoka—automation with human intelligence, heijunka—production smoothing, Kaizen—continuous improvement; Kaikaku—radical improvement of any activity by removing waste; Poka-yoke—avoiding inadvertent errors; fool-proofing, Kanban—index card, Andon—Signboard, Muri—overburden (avoid), Mura—inconsistency (avoid), Muda—Waste (avoid), Genchi Genbutsu—go and see yourself.

Lean manufacturing is now no more confined to the shop floor. It is now applied beyond the manufacturing walls and it as extended to other processes/functions like new product development, procurement, accounting, HR, order management, distribution, etc. Today we witness an array of associated concepts such as lean product development, lean accounting, lean distribution, lean supply chain, etc. Improving all areas of business, from product development, logistics management, service and support to back-office administrative areas such as human resources and finance and accounting functions, by applying lean principles will ultimately create a `Lean Enterprise.' The advent of Web and advanced information technologies has helped Lean Enterprise to come of age, in a big way. Matured Web and software technologies are enabling corporate executives to leverage six-sigma tools for analyzing cycle times, quality and customer services.

Global CEO Magazine, Lean Management, Lean Transformation, Zero Inventory Production, Lean Manufacturing Systems, Stockless Productions, Product Development, Logistics Management, Information Technologies, Software Technologies, HR Processes, Business Process Reengineering, BPR, Total Quality Control, TQC, Total Productivity Management, TPM, Value Stream Mapping, VSM, Enterprise Resource Planning, ERP.