Management Strategy - Lean management

Lean is about optimizing work processes and finding ways to get more with less effort - ie. to minimize human effort, minimize time and minimize space. Lean is about working smarter.

In brief, lean can be boiled down to the following five principles:

The first principle is to focus on the customer and be aware of what creates value for him. Who are the customers and what are the customers'  needs?

The second principle is to identify the work processes that produce performance (value). This makes it possible to gain insight into how a product or service moves through the production chain, how long it is underway, and the proportion of total production that is productive.

The third principle is to identify those activities that create value, and then remove the activities that must be considered as waste (muda). Waste can be defined as any resource that does not create value for the customer. This may include waiting time, unnecessary activities or poorly designed processes.

The fourth principle is about making "output" driven by pull and not push. In a Lean organization there must always be an internal or external "customer" who with their needs determines what is produced and when.

The fifth principle is about continuous improvement of work processes (Kaizen). Lean is not an isolated activity but an ongoing process that must continue to make improvements in the organization. Work actively with employee / customer metrics to monitor the impact of continuous improvement.

In short, the idea is that we constantly strive to find ever smarter ways of doing things.