Introduction to Lean
Lean is a methodology and philosophy to create a ‘continuous improvement’ culture in organisations. With Lean tools and techniques, problems in processes can be solved. Lean can be applied to every company. You can make improvements in processes by applying Lean, both in the long-term and the short-term.
Lean principles have been around for a long time, and the methodology has been proven in many organisations.
More than fifty years ago, Toyota developed the concept of Lean methodology as we know it today and through the successes of Toyota, the Lean system has become well-known all over the world.
The approach is a long-term philosophy to foster a Lean culture in organisations. It takes time to maintain improvements and to get a mindset of ´continuous improvement´ with customers. However, it is certainly possible to recognise short-term gains – by applying Lean tools, processes can be improved in the short-term.
So, there are two ways for us to apply Lean:
1. Long-term
Your organisation wants to create a Continuous Improvement culture, where everyone in the organisation looks at the processes with a Lean mindset. This mindset means: thinking in terms of customer value, eliminating wastes, making no mistakes whilst performing and improving every day.
2.Short-term
Dealing with specific problems in processes: implementing Lean tools to solve these problems.