Islands of Success

The journey to lean for the US Aerospace Enterprise began in earnest in the early 1990s, as industry and government responded to post-Cold War imperatives. Most organizations responded first by harvesting the ‘low-hanging fruit’ — opportunities that required minimum investment and that would yield quick results. Often, these resided on the factory floor, where it was felt that rapid improvements in production processes could be implemented. To be sure, there were some more far-reaching change initiatives — ‘pilot projects’ — where a measured industry or government investment could show progress and serve as a powerful illustration of new principles and practices. But going after the ‘low-hanging fruit’ was most common.