Hi Every Body,
When most people hear about Lean (in manufacturing or service industries), they almost always start with a false assumption about what it is. They term conjures up getting rid of people, reducing breaks, and locking up the pencil cabinet. Lean is actually light years apart from this.

The term "Lean" was coined by Jim Womack in the 1980's as a way to describe how the Toyota Motor Company was able to be productive with far less resources than the American counterparts. This included the effort needed to design and product cars, less capital investment, fewer defective cars, less inventories, and better employee engagement.

Since that time, Lean has spread across the globe, covering just about any sector imaginable. All sorts of manufacturing companies have adopted Lean, from other automotive companies to consumer product companies and everything in between. Lean has also been widely adopted in the service industries from health care to education to information technology. The reason? In short, Lean delivers business results.

Many people confuse the tools of Lean (5s, Kaizen, Value Stream Mapping, etc.) with what Lean actually is. Lean is a way of thinking that aims to reduce waste (i.e., non-value adding activity) across the enterprise in order to provide the best possible products and services to the customer. There are many components that go into reducing waste including shortened cycle time, an orderly work environment, problem solving by all employees, and many other things.

It's also important to understand what Lean is not. It isn't a fad-of-the-month driven by the consulting industry. Lean has been around and applied for decades with tremendous results. It is also not overly complex, particularly when compared to Six Sigma. The tools of Lean are available to all employees to understand and practice.

Looking at all of these things, it is clear that Lean is a business system that should be carefully considered by any organization that is looking to make significant improvements in profitability and growth.

Best Regards.........