hello everyone i am doing post graduation in industrial engg in India
and my thesis work revolves around assesment of how far lean tools and techniques have been implemented in a particular industry. for this i am conducting a questionnarie based survey. so please can u help me regarding this as what factors should i consider so as to check how "lean" is the company responding to my questionnarrie and carry some statistical analysis of the factors that are in questionnaries and and other things that i should be considering so as to complete my work.

aslo if any one of u r having any questionnarie which can assess how far lean has been implemented in a particular company please share with me i will be very thankfull to u. please respond as soon as possible

Check this out: ***Dead link removed****

Anyone else have any thoughts on this or a link?

There are many attributes on Lean. So a checklist that covers all of lean and every company can not happen.

Basic things that I look for:

1.Does the 5S activity cover the last two S’S?

2.Follow a process from start to finish. That will give you an indication if they have implemented any value stream mapping activities.

3.Is there a back up at inspection? If so that could be linked to VSM and Quality At the source activities not being completed implemented.

You probably should start with an operational definition of "lean". Does lean mean providing the most product or service with the least cost? Or does it mean doing the same work with less people without regard to quality? Lean could mean how many jobs were eliminated in the short term. Some companies measure how lean it is by how many teams are working to reduce waste and the savings from those teams.

Either you will need to determine the operational definition of lean and research how companies meet the criteria or learn how a lean company is measuring themselves for their operational definition of lean.

Bill Pflanz

IMO I would concentrate on WIP inventory (work in process). One of the major concepts of lean is to reduce, if not eliminate, WIP. For example, DELL computers has no inventory of finished computers. The computer is built only when they have a customer order in hand (or so I am told).
My companies current efforts with VSM (value stream mapping) is to minimize WIP as well as general inventory. By minimizing these you gain the floor space for further expansion.

IMO I would concentrate on WIP inventory (work in process). One of the major concepts of lean is to reduce, if not eliminate, WIP. For example, DELL computers has no inventory of finished computers. The computer is built only when they have a customer order in hand (or so I am told).
My companies current efforts with VSM (value stream mapping) is to minimize WIP as well as general inventory. By minimizing these you gain the floor space for further expansion.
I think I need a clear definition of what you consider each of the following in order to understand your premise. My thoughts:

Raw material [or component] inventory
Work In Process [whether building on spec or to order] - I consider this to comprise all components or raw materials actually being processed up until the point they are packaged and ready to ship.
Finished goods inventory [finished goods not sold - does not include (in my mind) goods ordered, but held for release by customer]
Typically, Lean thinking aims at all three areas:

Reducing raw material inventory to the minimum based on lead time to replenish stock balanced against projected usage
Reducing work in process by making throughput time more efficient
Reducing unsold goods inventory by tailoring production to actual sales
The emphasis is on reducing the cash investment in non-income producing goods. Ordered finished goods held on a shelf awaiting release by buyer only represent a interest rate risk for the period they sit on the shelf until delivered and billed. The raw material MAY be sold back for a restocking charge, so its value is the net after interest and restocking penalty in the event no orders materialize. Unsold finished goods represent a risk that intended customer may not purchase. Lean intends to reduce that risk by reducing inventory. Work in process represents a risk it may not conform in addition to the cost of components and labor which cannot be recovered unless finished goods are sold.

It may be true you can't sell from an empty wagon, but that doesn't mean you have to fill more than one wagon at a time, if you are only selling from one wagon at a time. Lean says fill only as many wagon loads as you can sell within a projected period. Less interest cost for money tied up in inventory means higher net profit for the organization.

As I have mentioned earlier also, in our group companies It is WCM (World Class Manufacturing) which is followed and it is as same as Lean Manufacturing. There are clearcut well defined metrics. Even these measurements are drilled down to Industry specific and department specific. However some of the generic measurements are given as below;


Process Defect Rate.
Rework/Reprocessing Rate.
Improvements in Cp and Cpk of Critical Processes
Enhancement in Market Share due to Quality Improvement
Savings due to Process Technology up gradation
Reduction in Maintenance Expenses
Savings in energy and utilities
Inventory Turn Over (RM, WIP, FG)
Savings due to reduction in inspection
Savings due to material substitution
OTIF Delivery to Customers
OTIF Delivery from suppliers
Time to Market
Manufacturing Cycle Time
Changeover Time
No of Kaizens implemented
No of systems simplified
etc. etc. I can send you complete listing

mathur sahab
can u pls get in touch with me by e-mail?

SAE J4000 Identification and Measurement of Best Practice in Implementation of Lean Operation developed by the Society of Automotive Engineers as a Surface Vehicle Recommended Practice gives a good basis and methodology

How to get "SAE J4000 Identification and Measurement of Best Practice in Implementation of Lean Operation".
Can I get it by online payment?
I have login and password to access SAE website. I don't know whether I am a member of SAE ?

You can order (paper or download) from this page: http://www.sae.org/servlets/productDetail?PROD_TYP=STD&PROD_CD=J4001_199911

I don't know how to help you in determining your membership status. If your company has membership, someone there should know, or it might be possible to look it up on the SAE site. For example, if you initiate the order process and choose member pricing, they'll ask for some form of proof, and whatever they're asking for might indicate what you need to find out.

After looking at many different check sheets, I found that I could still not answer the question "What factors should I consider so as to check how lean a company is?"

I guess I would start with the top 25 companies in the world, then match up those companies that most closely match what you do. Then verify that the reason for being on top is not by how much money they are making, rather, how much their market share is increasing, then visit or use their list for your environment as well.

If your just looking for a measurement system to determine if one company is more lean than another, then any ambiguous list will do.