Far from the Factory: Lean for the Information Age

If you currently employ knowledge workers who do most of their work on computers or with computers, access the Internet, utilize internal and external databases, use e-mail or other new messaging technology, then this book is for you. Quite simply, this handbook is for any organization with a lot of Web DNA that wishes to cut costs, improve performance, and stay perpetually competitive. It is for change agents or managers within those organizations who work with information and want to leverage the latest crop of tool sets to deliver on the promise of Lean for the modern, information-rich office.

… packed with new ideas … breaks new ground in so many directions … .
— John Bicheno, Director, Lean Enterprise Research Centre, Cardiff Business School

… excellent … on several levels … … teaches us how to visualize the depth of hidden wastes in our complex information flows and the large opportunity for improvement that this suggests.
— Keith Russell, PhD, Global Continuous Improvement Leader R&D, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals

Very interesting view on operational excellence, helpful to readers without a background in this area of expertise.
— Bert Nordberg, President and CEO. Sony Ericsson

Congratulations to all the readers holding this book! … These Lean ideas must be an integral part of the daily operations of your business. I am going to get each and every one of my management team a copy of this brilliant book at the start for our own Lean journey.
— Lennart Käll, CEO, Wasa Kredit

It’s one thing to develop a concept. It’s another to make it sing. This is the hymnal.
— Dr. Don V. Steward, CEO Problematics, Professor Emeritus, Sacramento State University, inventor of DSM

… a must read for CIOs everywhere."
— Julian Amey, Principal Fellow, Warwick University