Lean
'There are many ways to define Lean. We concentrate on people, culture and lean processing - creating a balanced responsive work flow.'
In Lean Thinking (James Womack and Daniel Jones, 1996)
the five lean principles were set out as:
• Specify value from the customer's viewpoint
• Identify the Value Stream
• Make value flow
• Pull and Perfection.
Lean Processing encompasses all of these by considering balanced workflows, standard operations, pull systems and effective communications. Fast, effective flow is the objective. Identifying the real constraints requires teams to think creatively.
The application of lean will vary business by business. It is not necessarily about one-piece flow, eliminating all stock or reducing head-count. Lean should be about reducing lead times, growing the business and competing in a global environment.
