LEAN Performance Measurement

The Toyota Model known as Lean is increasingly used in Danish manufacturing companies. Especially since the start of the new Millennium the adoption rate has picked up. Lean seems to change the way we look at well-working businesses. Using the Lean principles companies aim for increased customer value through pull production, uninterrupted flow of goods with zero defects facilitated by a culture of continuous improvement. The success of Lean is traditionally measures in terms of improved customer satisfaction, faster throughput time, improved on-time delivery, reduced inventories, and the like. We rarely see new financial measures, and the traditional financial measure in terms of accounting profit quite often deteriorate in spite of the non-financial measures being improved. This seemingly paradox is at the crux of this project.

The project is done in close collaboration with three major Danish manufacturing companies, which have recently started on a lean journey.

The CIP project group is Professor Poul Israelsen and Ph.D. researcher Thomas Borup Kristensen. The estimated project period is February 2007 to January 2010.