总经理：刚才您参观了厂房，相信这使您对我公司在精益生产方面做的改进有了一定的了解。
TBM Consultant:I think you’ve done a great job. Compared with what I saw 6 months ago, the production efficiency is significantly improved and the percentage of scraps much reduced.
总经理：当时您一到车间就发现了好几个问题，而且给我们的解决方法也很简单，不用花什么钱就能有如此大的实效。
TBM Consultant:It’s just what lean production is all about. Even if money is not a problem, saving it for future use or spending it with better return is what every manufacturer has in mind.
总经理：对啊，现在的经济环境还有很多变数，如果能在生产环节节约资金，我们就能备不时之需了。您觉得车间方面还有什么需要改进的吗？
TBM Consultant:Lean production is about continuous improvement. You can never have the best, but always better yourself. I think you can work on temporary inventory in the production line and the layout of different work stations.
总经理：好的，一会儿我把车间生产总监和几个工序的负责人叫上来，一起想想解决方法。
TBM Consultant:Ask some operators to join us as well. They work there, so they have first-hand experiences and are most familiar with the situation of respective work stations. You can’t expect the CEO or president to know everything down there, right?
总经理：没问题，我记得上次有几个问题就是由车间工人自己解决的，方法也真的是物美价廉啊。
TBM Consultant:I started my career as a worker. That’s why my current capacity as a consultant does not prevent me from thinking and acting like a worker. When I enter a workshop, I feel like I am the one operating the machines and I do want to make my work easier and more efficient.
总经理：我们的工人看到您一身工装打扮，还以为是我们请的外籍操作工呢。您对车间的机械设备都很熟悉，不说的话没人知道您是个资深顾问。
TBM Consultant:Ha-ha, help me keep the secret. Talking about the workers, are they all supportive to your lean transformation? Have you encountered some objection or doubt?
总经理：经过培训和现场指导后，大多数工人都能理解，而且在现场操作时也能按照精益生产的原则来做事。反对意见嘛，肯定是有的，
TBM Consultant:What are their objections about?
总经理：部分工人平时习惯了散漫的工作方式，做一会儿歇一会儿，老油条了，而精益生产要求工序间紧密衔接，一环扣一环，这就意味着他们不能偷懒了，所以就会反对。
TBM Consultant:These are easy targets. Lean is about efficiency, about saving time, money and resources. If they continue to be slack and sluggish, they’ll have to be ruled out. We need to listen to the voice of our workers, but the premise is they should be reasonable and beneficial.
总经理：还有一些工人有意见，是因为他们担心自己丢掉工作。您知道，一旦精益了，效率上去了，需要的工人数量就减少了，原来需要十个人，现在六个人就绰绰有余，那多出来的四个人怎么办？下岗？
TBM Consultant:This is a universal concern among all factories adopting lean. Lean is not a stop in your journey. It’s a destination which you’ll never reach. If you are satisfied with what you have after 1 or 2 lean transformations, you are still not qualified.
总经理：这些我们都明白，可是工人就是要看眼前，没工作了，没工资了，自然不乐意。
TBM Consultant:The onlooker sees the best. He fears losing his job and you are not sure whether a ready one is available. Why can’t you create one for him? With better implementation of lean production, you’ll have more free hands and think about offering other products to the market. So he can be working in the new production line. You can also have a lean team with these people.
总经理：您说的很对，当局者迷。我们是应该设立一个精益事务办公室，定期对工厂各环节进行检查，找到能够继续精益的地方。
TBM Consultant:Objection is good because if no one says no to you at the very beginning, it’s more dangerous. They grudgingly accept the change without any passion or initiative. You never know where the problem is.
总经理：我们也鼓励工人提出意见，好的坏的都要有。现在厂里有个精益生产反馈邮箱，收集了不少工人提出的问题，有几个比较棘手的，一会儿请咱们的外脑帮忙想想。
TBM Consultant:You cannot just have lean on your shop floor; it should be in your corporate culture. Senior management must accept this philosophy first. Then it will reach out to all employees. Remember, it’s always top-down.
总经理：上次您也说过精益文化的重要性。不过在具体操作方面，我们还需要一些帮助，尤其是如何让精益文化制度化以及处理阻力方面。
TBM Consultant:Don’t worry. This time I am thinking about establishing a lean team here. Also I’d like to talk with your senior management to see if you can include some key workers into the decision-making process.
总经理：好的。哎，生产总监他们过来了，要不我们先谈谈生产线的改进吧？
参考译文：
General Manager:You just visited our plant. I’m sure now you are more familiar with our improvement in lean production.
TBM公司顾问：做得很好。和六个月前相比，生产效率大幅度提高，废品比例也降低不少。
General Manager:At that time, you discovered a few problems immediately after you entered the plant and gave us simple solutions. They proved really effective, but didn’t cost us much.
TBM公司顾问：这就是精益生产的实质。企业就算不缺钱，也要考虑如何先保留一些以备后用，或者用在回报更高的地方。
General Manager:That’s right, especially with the great volatility in the economy. If we can save some in production, then we’ll have a contingency fund. Do you see any other potential improvements in the workshop?
TBM公司顾问：精益生产意味着持续改善。没有最好，只有更好。我觉得可以在生产线临时库存和工位布局上下点功夫。
General Manager:That’s fine. I’ll ask the production supervisor on the shop floor and work station heads here for a trouble-shooting session.
TBM公司顾问：再叫上几位操作工。他们在车间干活，有一手经验，而且最熟悉工位的情况。总不能指望CEO或总裁了解车间的情况，是吧？
General Manager:O.K. It just came to me that some problems were solved by workers themselves last time, with very cost-effective methods.
TBM公司顾问：我的第一份工作也是工人，所以即便现在做了顾问，我也像工人一样思考和行动。走进车间时，我觉得是自己在操作机器，真想让我的工作更简单，更高效。
General Manager:Seeing that you are in worker’s uniform, our operators thought you were a foreign colleague. You are so familiar with every machine in the workshop that no one will take you as a senior consultant, if you don’t tell them.
TBM公司顾问：哈哈，一定要帮我保密。说到工人，他们支持精益变革吗？有没有人表示反对或疑惑？
General Manager:Through training and on-site guidance, most understand and practice lean principles at work. But sure we have objections.
TBM公司顾问：关于什么？
General Manager:Some are used to working sluggishly. They take too many breaks, these sly fella. Lean production requires well-knit organization between processes, which necessarily means they can’t be lazy. That’s why they object to it.
TBM公司顾问：这个问题不难办。精益就是效率，就是节约时间、资金和资源。如果他们继续懒散，就让他们走人。我们要听取员工的意见，但必须是合理、有利的意见。
General Manager:The other objection is from workers who fear losing jobs. You know that lean leads to higher efficiency and fewer hands. 6 is enough for the original workload for 10, then what about the redundant 4? Lay them off?
TBM公司顾问：所有采取精益的工厂都面临这个问题。精益不是旅途中的一站，它是你永远无法到达的目的地。如果做了一两次精益变革你就满意的话，你还不够格。
General Manager:We know that, but workers are only interested in present benefits. No one is happy with no job or salary.
TBM公司顾问：旁观者清。工人担心失业，你不清楚有没现成的岗位给他。为什么不新增一个岗位呢？精益生产做得好，你就有更多空余人手，可以把更多产品投放到市场。这些工人就可以去新生产线上班了。你也可以用这些人组建自己的精益团队。
General Manager:You are right. We don’t see as clearly. We should establish an office of lean affairs to check different aspects of the factory regularly and to find places of continuous lean.
TBM公司顾问：反对意见不是坏事，因为要是一开始没人说话反而更危险。他们勉强接受变化，毫无激情。你想找问题都不知从哪里下手。
General Manager:We encourage workers to make suggestions, good or bad. Now there is an in-house mailbox of lean production feedback, which has already received a lot of questions. I will ask for your help with a few tricky ones later.
TBM公司顾问：不能只在车间搞精益，精益也要贯彻在企业文化里。高层必须先接受这个理念，然后才是员工。记住，一定要由上至下推广。
General Manager:You mentioned last time the importance of lean culture. However, in our execution, we still need help, particularly in institutionalizing lean culture and handling resistance.
TBM公司顾问：别担心。这次我想帮你们建立精益团队，还想和高层谈谈，让部分重要工人有机会参与决策。
General Manager:Great. Here come the production supervisor and heads of work stations. How about jumping to improvement of production line?
