LEAN: A Trend or a Necessity?
The LEAN concept seems to have become fashionable in recent years. We hear about LEAN MANUFACTURING, LEAN MANAGEMENT, LEAN ACCOUNTING, LEAN LOGISTICS, LEAN IT, LEAN STARTUP, but in reality we do not know whether this is relevant to us or whether it is merely a management system used by large multinationals.
What is LEAN?
This concept certainly began to be applied in the automotive sector at the beginning of the 20th century, with the aim of improving productivity by optimizing processes, eliminating everything that does not add value to the product.
Does improving productivity mean producing more?
No, improving productivity means producing what is needed, at the lowest possible cost and without errors or waste.
Does improving productivity mean reducing workers’ wages?
No, improving productivity means aligning all employees towards continuous improvement, leveraging each person’s knowledge and feeding it back with the experience gained by the entire team.
To achieve this, employees must be empowered with knowledge of the processes they manage, increasing their autonomy; to do so, it is necessary to provide them with Training and Information.
Is the LEAN concept applicable only to production processes?
Clearly NOT. It is a process-based management model that can be applied across the entire company, regardless of the activity it carries out, whether industrial or services, and whether it is a large company or an SME.
It can be applied to any type of process:
– Production
– Logistics
– Purchasing
– Administrative
– Sales
– IT
Until a few years ago, only large companies had Information Systems that allowed them to measure their processes, but today these tools have become widely accessible and affordable for most companies.
