 The core idea is to maximize customer value while minimizing waste. Simply, lean means doing more with less. A lean organization understands customer value and focuses their key processes to continually meet those needs. Coined by Jim Womack’s research team at MIT in the 1990’s, lean means all muscle but no fat. The characteristics of a lean organization and supply chain are described in Lean Thinking, by Jim Womack and Dan Jones, founder of the Lean Enterprise Institute and the Lean Enterprise Academy. This is the absolutely the best resource to understand the concept and real life examples of the application of the thinking. It is available in our bookstore.
A popular misconception is that lean only for manufacturing, but this is quite the opposite, lean has application in every business and every process. Lean is not a tactic or a cost reduction program, rather a way of thinking for an organization. Progressive businesses in all industries are using lean as the way they think and do. Many organizations choose not to use the word lean, but to label what they do as their own, such as the Toyota Production System or the Danaher Business System as examples. Why? To drive home the point that lean is not a program or short term cost reduction program, but a way a company operates. A lean enterprise is a organization in which all functions are aligned to create the greatest value and least amount of waste. There are 5 guiding principles that are fundamental to the elimination of waste. They are easy to remember, but not always easy to achieve. These act as the guide for all involved in a lean transformation. When applied rigorously and throughout an entire organization, they will have a dramatic affect on productivity, cost and quality. The word transformation or lean transformation is often used to characterize a company is moving from an old way of thinking to lean thinking. It requires a complete transformation on how a company conducts business. This takes a long term perspective and perseverance. |
