Many people do not know what Lean is, not to mention what it can do for your business. I can’t tell you how many times this question has been. Many people respond with Lean is being physically fit. The fact is, it does not relate to a person’s fitness level at all.
The core idea of Lean is to maximize customer value while minimizing waste. A lean organization understands the concept of customer value for their unique customers. It focuses its key processes to continuously increase customer value, by concentrating on what is truly important to them. The goal is to provide the best service or product value to the customer through the perfect value creation process that has zero waste. A key is to understand what your customer truly values. Though having zero waste is not possible, it is always the goal. Through continuous improvement, an organization should always strive for this level of excellence.
Eliminating waste along the entire business value stream, instead of at isolated points, creates processes that need less of the following: human effort, space, capital, time to make products, and cost to provide a service or product. It also improves quality, with fewer defects or errors compared with traditional business systems. Additionally, information management becomes much simpler and more accurate.
A popular misconception is that lean is suited only for manufacturing. This is far from the truth. Lean applies to every industry, business, and process. It is not a tactic or a cost reduction program, though the outcome is usually reduced expenses, improved quality, and improved revenue. It is a way of thinking and acting for an entire organization to drive positive culture change.
To learn how Lean can benefit your specific business, feel free to contact us.