New Book Shows How to Implement Lean in the Information Age

Online, September 12, 2010 (Newswire.com) - This new book delivers the tools and techniques needed to adapt Lean manufacturing concepts of waste, value, and continuous flow to the technology-rich service-oriented office. Today most of the work-to-be-done flows through our information systems bite by bite, this means that the traditional types of waste you find in the factory are not the types of waste you find in the modern office. The wasteland for the knowledge worker consists of: Waste of Email, The Waste of Excess Complexity and Process, The Waste of Reporting, The Waste of Multitasking and others. Effective access, development and exchange of information are the most critical factors affecting the result of the knowledge worker efforts. This visionary reference explains how to create an environment where these workers will not only solve problems fasters but become a more efficient in using information and knowledge to make decisions.

Endorsements

"This is one of the best books I've seen on Lean for knowledge and project workers. Most books on Lean implicitly focus on repetitive processes-doing the same thing over and over-whereas this book recognizes many of the challenges of understanding and improving a process that might only occur the same way once. This book will certainly help project workers eliminate the waste from their process improvement efforts."
-Tyson R. Browning, Associate Professor of Operations Management, Department of Information Systems and Supply Chain Management, Neeley School of Business, Texas Christian University

"This book is packed with new ideas, and breaks new ground in so many directions, for a 'traditional' Lean thinker like me! I have been continually surprised, amazed, and delighted at your many new insights. It truly breaks new ground in areas as IT, knowledge management, project management, office lean, and more that have been very much under-thought-out in transferring thinking from the factory to the office."
- John Bicheno, Director MSc in Lean Operations at Lean Enterprise Research Centre, Cardiff Business School

About the Authors

George Gonzalez-Rivas has been a process improvement consultant for most of his life and has worked with several consulting companies, most recently as a partner for PA Consulting Group. He has advised telecom, energy, and product development organizations, and is the inventor of the Infel Matrix approach to information modeling. He is continuously improving his Lean skills. He is currently the national director of AnyLogic America.

Linus Larsson, until recently a partner at PA Consulting, is now pursuing new business ventures with The Quest Group while he is at work on yet another new book. As an advisor on strategy and performance improvement to large international corporations for more than 20 years, Linus has worked with high-performance companies in a range of industries, including manufacturing, financial services, health care, and business services. He has held senior management positions with several global business services corporations, where he has helped pioneer a number of Lean initiatives. His diverse experience and innovative approach, along with his record of success, make him a leading thinker, as well as a much sought after writer, speaker, and advisor on effective ways to apply Lean philosophy in a non-factory environment.