Lean is a business methodology and continuous improvement model that focuses on maximizing customer value while minimizing waste. It is a philosophy of optimizing the people, resources, effort, and energy of an organization toward creating value for the customer.
Key Principles of Lean
- Identify Value – Value is always defined from the customer’s perspective.
- Map the Value Stream – Identify all the steps in the process that deliver this value and eliminate steps that do not (waste).
- Create Flow – Make the value-creating steps occur in a tight, uninterrupted sequence.
- Establish Pull – Let customer demand pull work through the process, rather than pushing work based on forecasts.
- Pursue Perfection – Continuously seek improvement in the process through small, incremental changes (Kaizen).
The 8 Wastes of Lean (DOWNTIME)
| Waste | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Defects | Efforts caused by rework, scrap, and incorrect information. | A software bug that requires a developer to rewrite code. |
| Overproduction | Production that is more than needed or before it is needed. | Developing software features that the customer never requested. |
| Waiting | Wasted time waiting for the next step in a process. | A QA tester waiting for developers to finish a feature. |
| Non-Utilized Talent | Underutilizing people’s talents, skills, and knowledge. | Assigning a senior developer to only perform minor bug fixes. |
| Transportation | Unnecessary movements of products and materials. | Moving code between multiple unnecessary staging environments. |
| Inventory | Excess products and materials not being processed. | A backlog of partially completed features that are not yet shippable. |
| Motion | Unnecessary movements by people (e.g., walking, searching). | A project manager searching through multiple folders to find a status report. |
| Extra-Processing | More work or higher quality than is required by the customer. | Spending weeks to make a report pixel-perfect when a simple one would suffice. |
Example Scenarios
Manufacturing
A car factory uses a “pull” system (Kanban) to ensure parts are only ordered and delivered to the assembly line exactly when they are needed, eliminating inventory waste.
Software Development
A development team maps their entire workflow from idea to deployment (Value Stream Mapping) to identify and remove bottlenecks, such as long waiting times for code reviews.
Healthcare
A hospital reorganizes its emergency room layout to reduce the “motion” waste of nurses and doctors walking back and forth to get supplies, speeding up patient care.
Why Lean Matters
- Increases Efficiency & Productivity – Focuses resources only on what adds value.
- Improves Quality – Aims to eliminate defects and rework from the process.
- Reduces Costs – Eliminates wasteful activities, saving time and money.
- Enhances Customer Satisfaction – Delivers exactly what the customer values, faster.
See also: Kanban, Kaizen, Value Stream Mapping, Agile, Six Sigma.