{"id":13778,"date":"2025-06-18T12:50:33","date_gmt":"2025-06-18T11:50:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theleansixsigmacompany.com\/us\/?p=13778"},"modified":"2025-08-14T12:04:45","modified_gmt":"2025-08-14T11:04:45","slug":"lean-management","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theleansixsigmacompany.com\/us\/library\/lean-management\/","title":{"rendered":"Lean Management"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Lean Management, also known as Lean Enterprise or Lean Thinking, is the management philosophy behind the Continuous Improvement structure developed by Toyota. With Toyota Lean Management is actually a part of the broader Toyota Production System. Generally speaking, Lean Management is a management structure as well as a organisational culture in which every employee strives to maximise customer value. An important of Lean Management is that an organisation has to strive for\u00a0<\/strong>flow<\/strong><\/a>,\u00a0in other words, a process without interruption.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lean Management can also be described as a \u2018culture of continuous improvement\u2019, although one could argue this is more of a result\u00a0flow<\/a>\u00a0than an objective in itself. Toyota has discovered that interruptions can be categorised in seven types called \u2018wastes\u2019. The seven types of wastes are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Transport<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Inventory<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Motion<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Waiting<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. Overproduction<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  6. Processing<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  7. Defects<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    If none of these wastes occur anymore, then\u00a0flow<\/a>\u00a0in the process has been achieved. In practice, it only results in minimising waste as it is impossible to eliminate them completely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Lean Management vs. Toyota Production System<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    The Toyota Production System (TPS), of which Lean Management is a part, goes further than just continuous improvement. Toyota applies 14 management principles which can be seen as part of the Four P\u2019s (People, Process, Philosophy and Problems). TPS goes further than the focus on continuous improvement with the application of Lean. Whereas Lean Management ensures increased quality and cost savings, the Toyota Production System is a broader management strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Achieving success with Lean Management<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Many other organisations have adopted Lean Management as a means of outperforming their competition, increasing output per employee and increasing customer satisfaction. If a company wants to be competitive in the long term, then Toyota\u2019s 14 management principles offer guiding principles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Lean Management is about managing a culture and structure of continuous improvement. Creating\u00a0Flow<\/a>\u00a0in processes is the objective and in order to achieve that, the wastes have to be reduced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Lean Management vs. de Six Sigma Way<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Whereas Lean had its origins at Toyota, Six Sigma originates from Motorola and General Electric. Motorola developed the Six Sigma project structure and General Electric added its structure of organisation. Lean and Six Sigma fit together seamlessly. Both methods endeavour to achieve the highest quality and customer satisfaction. In other words they are both customer and process centric.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Lean Management will generally focus more on improving short cycles and Six Sigma is often a project based approach. Combine Lean and Six Sigma in your organisation and you create a culture of ongoing (even daily) and project-based continuous improvement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Lean Management is a philosophy focused on creating maximum customer value by minimizing waste and striving for continuous improvement. Originating from the Toyota Production System, it emphasizes process flow, employee involvement, and eliminating seven types of waste. When combined with Six Sigma, it fosters a culture of both rapid and long-term improvement for higher quality and customer satisfaction.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13138,"featured_media":13782,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13778","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lean-six-sigma-topics"],"yoast_head":"\nLean Management - theleansixsigmacompany.com\/us<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Explore Lean Management, the philosophy behind Toyota's Continuous Improvement. 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