Lean Enterprise Institute Compiles Short List of Landmark Books on Lean Production That Is Long on Content

    BROOKLINE, Mass., July 9 Responding to questions from
manufacturing professionals, the Lean Enterprise Institute (LEI) has compiled
a list of eight books containing the essential knowledge about lean
production's history and fundamental principles.
    "Lean thinkers have often asked us what they should read to understand
lean thinking and where it came from," said Dr. James Womack, LEI president.
He and LEI colleagues Dan Jones and John Shook, "put our heads together and
came up with the titles that we have learned the most from," said Womack.
    The goal of the project is to give interested manufacturing managers,
engineers, and executives a shortcut to a complete education on lean
production. Manufacturing professionals in a variety of industries, including
automotive, aerospace, electronics, defense, medical equipment, and high-tech
will benefit from reading the books.
    The books are divided into two sections. The "Roots of Lean" books
describe the history of lean production. "Lean Classics" are books that first
introduced people to the lean philosophy and methods. The titles and their
authors are:

    Roots of Lean
    From the American System to Mass Production, David Hounshell,
    Ford Methods and the Ford Shops, Horace Arnold and Fay Faurote
    The Toyota Production System, Taiichi Ohno
    The Evolution of a Manufacturing System at Toyota, Takahiro Fujimoto

    Lean Classics:
    A Study of the Toyota Production System, Yashuhiro Monden
    The Toyota Production System, Shigeo Shingo
    Japanese Manufacturing Techniques, Richard Schonberger,
    The New Manufacturing Challenge, Kiyoshi Suzaki,

    All books are available now from the bookstore section on the LEI web site
at http://www.lean.org.
    LEI expects to add more titles and articles to the list over time.  "But
we will always keep the list short," said Womack, "because the essence of lean
thinking is doing, not contemplation in the library.
    The Lean Enterprise Institute is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation
founded in August, 1997, to promote a set of ideas commonly known as lean
thinking. It coordinates a global non-profit education and research network
dedicated to the advancement of lean principles.  LEI supports the people and
organizations engaged in lean conversions through its web site, workbooks,
on-site training workshops, and public workshops and conferences
    To order, call (617) 713-2900 or visit http://www.lean.org and click on Store.