Lean principles obj. 1 The chief executive officer (CEO) of Platnum Inc. has just returned from a management seminar describing the benefits of the lean philosophy. The CEO issued the following statement after returning from the conference:

This company will become a lean manufacturing company. Presently, we have too much inventory. To become lean, we need to eliminate the excess inventory. Therefore, I want all employees to begin reducing inventories until we make products “just-in-time.” Thank you for your cooperation.

How would you respond to the CEO’s statement?