Pietro Fiorentini interviews J. Womack

J. Womack‘s first contact with Pietro Fiorentini dates back to 2013. His wish to meet an Italian company that had introduced Lean Management in a very serious way led him to discover our reality, which for 13 years had already applied its principles consistently and effectively. Pietro Fiorentini, for J. Womack, is the example of a family business in which Lean Thinking is successful because errors are considered part of the improvement process, and not something to be avoided at all costs.

During his visit to the Pietro Fiorentini branch in Rosate, J. Womack guided a Gemba Walk through the production areas of the plant, bringing important ideas on process improvements and communications between departments. Afterwards, he held a Masterclass focused on the difference between the concepts of Work (activities that create value perceived by the customer), Incidental Work (activities that do not create value but that are necessary for the production process) and Waste (all other activities, that do not create value and are unnecessary).

On that day, we realised an interview with Womack addressing many other topics, including the usefulness of Lean Management in helping companies to face the challenges of the modern world and what the future of Lean Thinking may be after 40 years of existence.

The interview is available on Pietro Fiorentini’s YouTube channel with Italian subtitles:

Jim Womack is the founder and Senior Advisor of the Lean Enterprise Institute. His best-known books are: “The Machine that Changed the World” (Macmillan & Rawson Associates, 1990); “Lean Thinking” (Simon & Schuster, 1996); “Lean Solutions” (Simon & Schuster, 2005).