Managing Lean Projects

Lean is a set of disciplines that can result in tremendous savings and profitability for companies. It can significantly reduce cycle times and increase customer satisfaction. Lean, however, must be applied efficiently and effectively to achieve optimum results. This book discusses project management concepts, tools, and techniques as they apply to managing Lean projects. It explains how you can apply the discipline of project management to fully harness the energy and power that Lean offers.

Managing Lean Projects

begins by discussing the major concepts and techniques that make Lean so powerful. It details the many benefits of Lean, along with the key challenges that must be overcome to fully reap its benefits. The book then goes on to describe the project management tools and techniques you can use to get the most out of Lean. It explains how the structure of each key project management process helps to keep the Lean project on course.

The book devotes separate chapters to the project management processes for PDCA (plan, do, check, act) and DMAIC (define, measure, analyze, improve, control) Lean lifecycles. In both chapters, detailed case studies help to demonstrate the concepts presented in a real-world situation. The author includes numerous diagrams, examples, and checklists throughout the book to get you started quickly managing Lean projects.

As Lean continues to pick up momentum across many industries, it becomes imperative that project managers learn how to use it to achieve the desired results. With this book, project managers will be well-equipped to lead, not just manage, their Lean projects to success and to the benefit of their organization and the people who work in it.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: The Long Road to Lean
Chapter 2: What Is Lean?
Chapter 3: Overview of Project Management Fundamentals
Chapter 4: Fundamental Lean Concepts, Tools, and Techniques
Chapter 5: Lean and Project Management Processes
Chapter 6: Lean Project Management Using the PDCA Cycle
Chapter 7: Project Management for a Lean Project Using DMAIC
Chapter 8: Ten Final Thoughts about Lean