The role of assessment in a lean transformation

Abstract

When starting the journey to become a Lean company, companies commonly face the problem of understanding how to manage a Lean transformation. Often times, the first step in managing a Lean transformation is to understand the current state of the organization followed by defining the desired future state of the organization. However, in order to assess the current state, an effective measurement method is necessary. With a good measurement method, a company can not only understand the beginning state, but it can also take periodic measurements to check its progress against its transformation plan. In this thesis the effectiveness of Dell Business Assessment is analyzed in comparison to other current assessment methods. The Dell Business Assessment is examined in depth, as the thesis describes the development, piloting and recommendations for Dell's assessment tool.