To many, lean IT seems like an oxymoron. We all know lean is anti-IT. But do we? There are many misunderstandings about what lean is and the general view on its relationship to IT is based on misinformation. I can dispel one myth instantly: there is nothing contradictory about lean and IT.

Toyota, the model for lean, is one of the largest users of IT in the world. Having said that, the company does have a particular point of view about its role that contradicts much of the practice in the wider industry. Here are three key lessons to help you emulate the Toyota way.

1. Solve the problem, then select the software

A foundation for the lean methodology is problem solving, which can lead to waste reduction. Toyota uses a standard "plan-do-check-act" approach. And when it introduces IT it always follows this same process and starts by asking what business problem it is trying to solve.

In engineering, when they brought in a new computeraided design (CAD) system, integrated with a product lifecycle management system for developing new engines, there were a number of problems. Toyota clearly identified these, together with the goals required to solve them. The main aims were to cut lead time in half and prepare young engineers more quickly since Toyota was growing rapidly.

They then considered alternative solutions and settled on PTC Software's suite. It had the basic infrastructure to meet Toyota's needs but a great deal of work was needed to give it the specific functionality desired to address the problems. So they gave PTC a research and development contract for a few years to develop specific aspects of the technology, working with Toyota engineers.

They also invested in a training programme that had to be validated to show engineers truly learned how to use the system. They piloted the software and then went live faster than any of PTC's other clients. The planning process and problem solving orientation required a several-year investment prior to implementation, but made implementation itself smooth and effective.

2. The right and wrong way to integrate IT

Principle 8 in my book on lean, The Toyota Way, deals with how Toyota approaches new technology. It states:

• Use only reliable, thoroughly tested technology that serves your people and processes.
• Use technology to support people, not replace people. Often it is best to work out a process manually before adding technology to support the process.
• Conduct actual tests before adopting new technology in business processes, manufacturing systems, or products.
• Quickly implement a thoroughly considered technology once it has been proven in trials and it can improve flow in your processes.

Toyota's approach to the engineering CAD system met all of these requirements, but too often companies skip over steps. An assumption is made that a new technology will "streamline endtoend business processes" and implementing new IT becomes the means and the end.

Of course we have all seen the aftermath in people struggling to use the IT system and finding what they previously did in three steps now takes six. IT professionals' view of this problem seems to be: "It's the stupid people, stupid. They are not following the business process we put in." But the Toyota view is: "You have not followed a good process and as a result you are fixing problems after the fact."

When working with PTC, Toyota did not see the IT as the "solution" to the problem, but as a key to sustaining its new leaned out process. In fact they successfully cut the lead time on a pilot project in half before going live with PTC. Applying IT to a lean process is far more effective than applying it to a poorly designed and managed process. You can use it to fill in some holes, but the process does not suddenly emerge as a good one.

3. IT and continuous improvement

If the real story behind lean is developing a mindset of continuous improvement - kaizen - then what is the role of IT? Again we can hear boastful claims about how an IT system can reveal problems and guide problem solving. This may be possible, but it is equally possible for IT to damage the kaizen process.

Let's take the case of kanban - historically, a scheduling system using cards and bins to signal the need for an item on a production line. At one point American leaders in Toyota proposed a switch from the manual kanban to an electronic version of this system for ordering parts as they are required on the production line.

The response from Japan was polite but also somewhat negative. With the manual process you can see, literally, if there is something wrong that requires kaizen - with an electronic system, would they lose the ability to easily see the problems?

The solution was to continue to have an adapted physical system in parallel with an IT system that would order the next set of parts required. When there was a deviation between the physical kanban and the parts being brought to the line, the system would flag this and they could take appropriate action: this would continue to drive kaizen.

So, there are no inherent contradictions between lean and IT. There is a contradiction to a mechanistic mindset that says IT offers a solution to all your problems. Problems must be solved one by one by people, preferably those doing the work. IT systems can help to flag problems, but the IT system itself is a source of problems.

People will be more effective at seeing problems and solving them if the problems are visible. So when implementing IT, it's important to think about how the problems will be visualised. Is it by some sort of flagging system driven by the IT? Is it by keeping key data on paper posted on boards so groups of people can see the biggest deviations from plan and respond to them? Is it by having a parallel physical system that flags problems?

But whatever field you're operating in, the important thing is to think lean. And it starts with developing people who are sensitised to looking for waste and have the skills to work together to eliminate it.

Dr Jeffrey K Liker is a world authority on Toyota, the creator of lean. He is professor of Industrial and Operations Engineering at the University of Michigan and author of the international bestseller, The Toyota Way.