Lean and Mean

Of course, what works in a humvee repair shop may not translate to an air-conditioned cubicle. "While cost savings are easier to achieve and see in a production facility, how do we measure success in the legal department?" asks Ron Davis, a civilian executive at the Army Matériel Command. "We can't use 'cases lost.' But we could look at speeding up how long it takes to produce a paper. Or how we might be able to get a recruit into the system faster."

For Evans, the Army's efforts are much more than a business-school exercise. "This is not only an economic transformation but a huge cultural change," he says. In the corner of every office at Red River, and on all the shop floors, stands a black cutout figure of a soldier with a helmet and rifle at the ready as a constant reminder of who the customer is and that the smallest errors can have the most serious consequences on the battlefield. A sign affixed to the front of the silhouette soldier says, WE BUILD IT AS IF OUR LIVES DEPEND ON IT. THEIRS DO!