Bow to your Sensei

Next week at work we are having a Shingijutsu event. A Sensei from Japan is coming to our plant (with interpreter in tow...he doesn't speak English) for the whole week. It is part of our Lean initiative. What is lean, you ask? To put it simply, lean is the idea of eliminating all waste in manufacturing processes...eliminating unnecessary motions, reducing inventory, simplifying processes, etc. However, lean isn't just for the plant floor anymore. The message in our business is lean is going to the office, to sourcing, finance, everywhere. Lean originated from Toyota, specifically from Taichi Ohno. James Womack also played a large role in the evolution of Lean. If I remember correctly, lean started off in the 70's during the oil crisis. At that time, James Womack was peddling Statisical Process Control. None of the American companies wanted to buy into it. Because of the oil crisis and Japan's non-existent economy, the only people who would listen to Womack were the Japanese. But I guess its okay because three American car makers (Buick, Cadillac and Licoln) are kicking all the Japanese car companies in terms of intial quality according to JD Power. Andy added that last sentence after I had initially posted. What I originally said was, "It's no wonder Toyota is kicking all of the American Auto-makers butts."
Lean doesn't necessarily mean better quality, though that can be a part of it. To me, it means doing things in the most efficient way, which always affects the bottom line.
I took a lean manufacturing class and a statistical process control class in college, so I hope I am remembering the story right. In any event, if any of you want to read "The Toyota Production System" by Taichi Ohno, I have a copy.