Lean is a set of tools to reduce waste in a process and was developed in manufacturing industries. The concepts and tools equally apply to service industries as it studies the “Value Stream” of the entire process from order to delivery.
Lean outcomes improve the speed with which an organisation completes the start-to-end process clipping hours, days, weeks or months off the timeline.
The mapping of the Value Stream identifies which elements/activities “Add” value and those that are effectively “Costs” in the process. In an assembly plant, a lot of “cost” work is essential in advance of the “Add Value” work and there can be many “cost” touch points in the middle of the “Add Value” work. Lean aims to reduce or eliminate the “cost” points.
