Lean Management

 

Lean Management Principles

The core principle of lean management is reducing waste and continually improve the business processes. Implementing lean practices in supply chain enables the organization to deliver a value to the customers continuously. In lean manufacturing there are five principles as; value, map the value stream, create a flow, establish a pull system and perfection. These principles show a pathway in order to transform the existing operations to a higher level (Skaar, 2019).

The first lean principle is value. The value is identified from the customer’s view. Value is the customer is paying for the product or service. The manufacturer or the service provider’s role is to minimize the waste and cost in order to meet the customer’s needs at the optimal price. Mapping the steps in the value stream is the second lean principle. It means visually displaying the flow of material and information in the production process. Through the value stream mapping value added activities and non-value added activities could be identified separately. The third principle is creating a flow. The focus of this principle is eliminating identified non -value added activities as those activities generate a waste. The fourth lean principle declares that a pull system needs to be established in order to find ways to create customer “pull’ for the products or services. In other terms, a pull system acts when there is a customer demand. The final principle is perfection which means creating a culture of continuous improvement and making the quality and improved processes a continuous commitment of the organization (International Labour Organization, 2017). These principles help the organizations to streamline their business processes and procedures through reducing waste and maximizing the productivity. The ultimate benefit would be transferred to the end customer.


References

International Labour Organization. (2017). Lean Manufacturing Techniques for textile Industry. Geneva: International Labour Organization.

Skaar, J. (2019). The Power of Lean Principles. 27th Annual Conference of the International (pp. 393-404). Dublin: Group for Lean Construction (IGLC).


Author: D. T. Wickramage
Date    : 24 July 2023



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