Lean Manufacturing begins with the foundational element of having a philosophy of long-term thinking, even at the risk of short-term financial goals. Short-term financial goals cannot be ignored, but Beta must give greater deference to long-term thinking and goals. This will continue to be difficult for Beta given Wall Street's demand for quarterly results. Getting the basics right and having reliability and stability in the processes and equipment is a must. Without having reliable processes and equipment, it is very difficult to be lean. Some extra stuff like buffer stocks, spare parts, and spare equipment are needed to manage the un-reliability and still meet the customer's demands. Beyond this, the processes and flow must be better understood and steady flow must be established to match customer demand. This will be more difficult for Beta's process plants, which are much better designed to “push” production, although with more level flow. Longer-term thinking may be necessary here to match the process to the demand, and certainly better forecasting of demand is needed.