Overview

Every industry and sector of the economy has its core missions ways in which it affects the operation, stability, and future potential of society. For aerospace, those core missions involve the global movement of people and goods, the global acquisition and dissemination of information and data, advancing national security interests, and providing a source of inspiration by pushing the boundaries of exploration and innovation. In every case, whether for aerospace or some other sector, future success in fulfilling core missions depends on establishing the capability to deliver lean enterprise value on a consistent basis.

Nearly every sector of the US and many other national economies also features a broad range of improvement initiatives some linked to lean principles and practices and some tied to other, related concepts concerned with quality and continuous improvement. In each case, there is the risk that improvement efforts will become dominated by a narrow, cost-cutting mindset. The experience in aerospace highlights the importance of a broader focus on the identification and delivery of value across key stakeholders in a defined enterprise.

Building on our insights from aerospace, we illustrate here the broader applicability of our framework. As we review the five principles of lean enterprise value we introduced in Chapter 1, we suggest ways that they apply in industries as diverse as pharmaceuticals, automobiles, personal computers, and steel. ^[1] Of necessity, this is a high-level analysis, focusing on broad trends in these sectors. But not only does it help to illustrate...