Following in the tradition of its bestselling predecessor, The 12 Principles of Manufacturing Excellence: A Lean Leader's Guide to Achieving and Sustaining Excellence, Second Edition outlines a comprehensive, proven process for delivering world-class performance while also cultivating the right culture through leadership, mentoring, and hourly associate involvement.

While most books on continuous improvement focus on specific tools and methods, this book details a top-down strategy and process that Lean leaders can use to implement and sustain manufacturing excellence. It outlines a clear pathway to excellence via the 12 Principles of Manufacturing Excellence and provides a method for tracking progress—plant by plant and function by function.

This updated edition includes a new chapter on real stories about poor leadership at the top. Also featured are new and updated figures and exhibits. It contains chapters devoted to each principle of manufacturing excellence along with a chapter on each leader's role. Illustrating the importance of using Lean and Six Sigma tools to improve your business, the book:

• Details a comprehensive approach for achieving and sustaining excellence—from board room strategy to shop floor execution


• Integrates strategy and leadership development


• Paves a path for culture change that prepares hourly employees to take control of their processes and prepares management to enable them to do it


• Details an audit process for identifying priorities for improvement and tracking progress and ensuring sustainability

Tapping into more than four decades of leadership experience, 35 years of it in the manufacturing industry, Larry Fast explains how to achieve both vertical and horizontal alignment across your organization. Like the previous edition, the book includes a CD with color versions of the images in the book, a manufacturing excellence reading list, and formulas for selected metrics.

The CD also includes a sample manufacturing excellence audit (a powerful tool to achieve and sustain the journey), a sample communications plan, a sample communications plan calendar, a sample training plan, and a new Project Prioritization worksheet—all of which can be easily customized to meet your organization’s specific needs.