An article by james-p-womack and daniel-t-jones published in the March 2005 issue of Harvard Business Review (vol. 83, no. 3, pp. 58–68). The article previewed the arguments of lean-solutions, published the same year, and introduced the lean-consumption concept to the HBR readership.
The argument
The article argues that companies systematically ignore the waste embedded in the consumption process — the time, effort, and frustration that customers expend acquiring, installing, using, maintaining, and repairing products and services. This consumer-side waste exists independently of and in addition to producer-side waste. Companies that apply lean thinking only to their internal processes miss a large category of value destruction.
The article proposes six lean consumption principles (solve my problem completely; don't waste my time; provide exactly what I want; deliver where I want it; supply when I want it; reduce my decisions) that parallel the producer-side five-lean-principles.
What TPS concepts are being translated
The article extends the pull-principle and value-principle from lean-thinking to the consumption side. Rather than asking "what does the customer's pull signal require of our production system?", the article asks "what does the complete consumption experience require of our service and delivery system?" This is an extension of TPS logic rather than a direct translation of TPS practice — Toyota did not develop consumption-side lean as a distinct framework.
Target audience
Like the companion beyond-toyota and from-lean-production-to-lean-enterprise articles, this piece addressed the HBR readership of general and senior managers, particularly those in service industries. By 2005, lean had expanded significantly beyond automotive manufacturing, and this article addressed service sector managers who were skeptical that lean applied to their customer-facing operations.
Relationship to Lean Solutions
The article functions as the executive-summary companion to lean-solutions. The book develops the argument in more detail with extended case studies; the article states it in the compressed, action-oriented format of HBR. Together they represent the third major phase of Womack and Jones's framework development: after lean production (machine-that-changed-the-world) and lean enterprise (lean-thinking), lean consumption.