Muda! Muda! It is a Japanese word for waste, and in Italian it sounds like a cry of alarm! Any human activity that absorbs resources and does not create value in the company is wasteful, is muda:

Value is defined by the end customer and takes on meaning only when expressed in terms of a product or service that can meet needs at a given price and at a given time.

Lean Thinking is an operational philosophy formalized after in-depth observations of numerous organizations that have successfully implemented profound change toward efficiency

The name is composed of two words:

The starting point, then, is the hunt for waste, starting with identifying what is valuable, what is useful, what needs to be produced, and then aligning the value-creating activities in the right sequence, without interruption when the customer requires them and learning how to execute them more and more effectively.

All 5 Lean principles are already in these concepts:

Value: defining value for the customer. This means, first of all, understanding who the customer is (internal and external), understanding how they evaluate the product/service, how they measure it, and how expectations can be met;

Value Stream: identifying the value stream;

Flow: to create an uninterrupted value stream of activities;

Pull: making flow when the customer requires it - Pulled flow, freeing activities from constraints and inefficiencies that burden processes: these are mainly waste (muda);

Perfection: Never stop and pursue perfection. The pursuit of continuous improvement enables the source of the competitive advantage created to be fed. Resources, thus, freed up, are employed in continuous improvement activities (structured and measurable).

The Lean approach does not optimize constraints, but removes them by questioning the entire process and focusing on non-value and wasteful activities. Its application leads to streamlined processes, with reduced lead times with positive impacts on Product Quality and Customer Service Level. Therefore, it results in a lean and comprehensive business logic that reasons by processes, in the mode of the small business, i.e., small teams involved in the entire production process, including the customer relations phase.

Lean Thinking also subverts the normal paradigms of business management, thus setting a new way of running the business. Problems become opportunities for improvement.

Finally, he introduces the concept of perfection as the pursuit of continuous improvement through a cultural change that leads to the constant recognition of all sources of waste. One must learn to always see waste.