Lean

Lean in High Tech

The Machine that change the world

In the 1950s, Toyota began developing the Toyota Production System (TPS), which was later, after a study by MIT, described as Lean Manufacturing in “The Machine That Changed The World” by Womack, Jones & Roos.
Lean thinking

  • The Lean principles were further developed and generalized in "Lean Thinking" by Womack & Jones. These principles are:
  • Deliver value to the customer
  • Identify the value stream
  • Create flow
  • Ensure pull
  • Strive for perfection

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    The toyota way

  • The way this is achieved is at least as important, as described by Liker in "The Toyota Way." My former colleague Eef Oom (Blom Consultancy) summarized it as follows:
  • Making losses visible
  • Team-oriented improvement
  • Process-oriented organization
  • Security through standardization
  • Making people champions

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    The lean manager

  • The manager plays a crucial role in this. Ballé describes this entertainingly in his Lean novel "The Lean Manager" and addresses, among other things, four important behavioral aspects for managers:
  • Go to the shop floor and see for yourself
  • Ask five times why
  • Respect each other
  • Let the results speak for themselves

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    Lean startup

  • Lean is not just for established companies, startups can also benefit from it, as described in The Lean Startup by Eric Ries:
  • Vision: Scientific methods
  • Control: Creating feedback loops
  • Acceleration: Optimization of build-measure-learn

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    As you can see, Lean principles are widely applied and widespread in the industrial sector, and they are increasingly being applied outside of it, such as in healthcare and government. "Lean" is also frequently used in the high-tech industry, in production, development, and startups.

    In high-tech, the primary process for companies is much more about developing new products than producing them. Whether it concerns machines (ASML, Philips Healthcare) or devices (ICs, MEMs, sensors, displays), bringing new generations to market quickly and with high quality (Time to Market) often determines success. And it is precisely these development processes that often contain significant losses, especially where departments need to collaborate.

    Mapping the development process, addressing major losses as a team with Kaizen events, and standardizing working methods (not easy with stubborn technicians!) fosters ownership and enthusiasm among R&D staff, resulting in higher quality and shorter development process lead times.

    Frank's Lean experiences

    Frank's Lean experience began at Philips Flat Panel Display, where the Thomas Group, as an external consultant, emphasized the importance of fast turnaround times (nowadays called QRM), or Flow. Frank was also a pioneer in the implementation of Shop Floor Management, with key focus areas including Housekeeping (5S), Waste Reduction, Glass Wall Management, and Mini Company.

    During several visits to Japan, he also experienced how simple machines can assemble highly sophisticated displays in a single-piece flow, resulting in flexible production with rapid feedback and excellent quality. What a difference compared to the advanced CFT machines in Eindhoven with their large batch sizes, frequent downtime, and frequent quality issues! In Japan, Frank became a Lean Believer.


    At JDS Uniphase, Lean was a top priority, and Frank was appointed Lean Manufacturing Champion. In this role, he oversaw the transition from batch laser production to Single Piece Flow, resulting in an 80% reduction in inventory and lead time! The Kaikaku Events—special breakthrough Kaizens where major changes were defined and partially implemented in a week—were particularly memorable.

    After this period, Frank became a Senior Lean Consultant at Blom Consultancy, where he managed various projects for multinationals such as Corus and ASML. At Blom, he learned the importance of the human side of Lean. Helping people identify their own losses and providing them with the tools to develop their own solutions as a team was the most important lesson learned during his time at Blom.


    After Frank and two colleagues founded Triodin in 2006, he focused primarily on applying Lean thinking to high-tech development processes, as he encountered them in his various interim assignments.

    In the field of Lean, Agrim still collaborates with former colleagues from Triodin.

    Lean and Interim

    The combination of Lean and Interim is powerful because it temporarily adds significant experience and drive to an organization, accelerating the change process. Someone who is frequently on the ground and understands employee dynamics has a good sense of what can and should happen, and when! They are also available to provide follow-up and guidance after the implementation of changes, both substantively and personally. This increases support for changes and increases the likelihood of their adoption within the organization compared to a consultancy approach.