Continuous Process Improvement (CPI), Lean, Six Sigma, and Theory of Constraints (TOC) have emerged as the tools of choice for managers hoping to achieve excellence. Companies use these tools to improve quality while reducing their cost of goods sold (COGS) thereby improving profitability and building a competitive advantage. DoD program offices focus on these tools to help in achieving affordability while delivering product to the warfighter faster and with better quality and reliability.
These tools do not compete with one another, rather they can be used together to create organizational excellence.
"Lean" manufacturing or thinking is an evolution of the MIT work begun by James Womack and Daniel Jones on their study that led to the publication of "The Machine That Changed the World." Lean seeks to continuously improve product and services by focusing on the waste or "muda" in an orgainzation and using management tools and techniques to remove the muda. This area contains links and information on a wide-variety of Lean topics.
Note: The inclusion of related websites is provided as an initial list of sources of potentially valuable information. These links are not inclusive and are not intended to endorse any individual website.
