What is Lean Manufacturing?
Lean thinking dates back at least to the 1700s, when Eli Whitney developed interchangeable parts to deliver a massive order of muskets to the American Army. In the 1900s the management members of Ford, GM and Toyota contributed massively to the development of the concept and tools we use today. In 1988 John Krafcik coined the phrase “Lean Manufacturing” in his research as an MIT student. For most of the 20th century, lean manufacturing was tied closely to industrial innovations in the United States and Japan. During past few decades, many countries, global business leaders and organizations adopted Lean Manufacturing to their operating systems and revolutionized their operations.
Toyota Production System, Lean Manufacturing, Lean Enterprise, or Lean Production, often simply “Lean” is a production philosophy that considers the expenditure of resources in any aspect other than the direct creation of value for the end customer to be wasteful, and thus target for elimination.
Working from the perspective of the client who consumes a product or service, “Value” is any action or process that a customer would willing to pay for.
Lean is a systematic approach to identify and eliminate wastes through continuous improvement by making products/ services in best quality, shortest lead-time (Speed) and lowest cost (Competitive Price). In other words: Lean is, creating a physical environment to easily bring problems to the surface and creating a social environment that could enable and motivate people to solve, prevent problems for continuous improvement of the business.
Lean thinking is fundamentally transforming the way organizations operate. The Lean principles of continuous improvement, respect for people, and relentless focus on delivering customer value are making business leaders and organizations re-think the practices that might have guided them for decades.
Leaders today need to be able to optimize the entire organizational system for value delivery whilst neutralizing unexpected, unprecedented challenges. A new, transformative approach to working requires a transformation in leadership as well. A leader who mastered the lean practices is the most suited professional to develop, implement and drive a system that could change the behaviors of an entire organization. Such organizations can thrive in a continuously improving culture that elevate them to the world class status in their industry.