Lantech

The steady growth in output of the newly competitive Lantech has meant that within a short period these workers have been needed again for production work.

Lean Thinking James P. Womack 2003

To make this simple system work, Lantech had to change a generation of industrial thinking about how to do work and how to work together.

Lean Thinking James P. Womack 2003

Instead the sales force contacted Lantech for authorization before quoting a price on any machine with special features.

Lean Thinking James P. Womack 2003

The sales growth was due to a general recovery in the market, aggressive pricing by Lantech to capture share, and a host of new products, to be described in a moment.

Lean Thinking James P. Womack 2003

His simple proposal came as a revelation: Lantech would immediately form teams to rethink the value stream and flow of value for every product in the plant, and then every step in order-taking and product development.

Lean Thinking James P. Womack 2003

Lantech had experimented with development teams in the late 1980s and early 1990s but without much success.

Lean Thinking James P. Womack 2003

This is exactly the system used at Lantech, as described in Chapter 6.

Lean Thinking James P. Womack 2003

Yet it would be inaccurate to characterize Lantech as some sort of paradise.

Lean Thinking James P. Womack 2003

The customer must also be educated, as at Lantech, about the curious fact that Showa now ships exactly on schedule.

Lean Thinking James P. Womack 2003

The conversion of Lantech from classic batch-and-queue to lean thinking has produced a dramatic box score of performance improvements see Table 6.1.

Lean Thinking James P. Womack 2003