Lean: what it is and what it means

Lean is a management system aimed at the elimination of waste along the value stream, identified by Ohno as the 7 muda: waiting, overproduction, unnecessary transportation, over-processing, excess inventory, motion and defects. Its distinctive trait is the systematic elimination of activities that do not create value for the customer, guided by Womack and Jones's five Lean principles (value, value stream, continuous flow of value, pull, perfection). Lean incorporates Kaizen as its underlying philosophy but adds structured tools for the analysis and systematic reduction of waste along the value stream.

Distinctive: elimination of waste along the value stream
Distinctive: 7 muda
Distinctive: systematic elimination of activities that do not create value
Distinctive: value stream
Essential: waste along the value stream
Essential: structured tools
Essential: five Lean principles
Essential: waste
Constant: incorporates Kaizen as its underlying philosophy
Constant: systematic reduction of waste
Constant: continuous flow of value

Glossary

Lean

A management system aimed at eliminating waste (muda) along the value stream, which identifies 7 categories of waste and provides structured tools for reducing them systematically.