Ever since the introduction of Lean in the seventies, a number of companies have been succesful in increasing client satisfaction as well as cost reductions, which led to strong revenue growth and profitability. In the last 15 years the Lean concept was also applied successfully to the financial sector, the principles of Lean being applicable if you substitute the stream of logistics for a stream of information.
On the other hand, research from PA Consulting Group indicates that a lot of managers have insufficient understanding of the Lean philosophy, resulting in many Lean projects turning out to be more complicated than expected, and the goals of quality and efficiency improvement not being met.
The practical lesson: by applying Lean as a cultural change, a company can reduce costs in implementing Lean and maximise the returns.
