Learn in the textbookProduction Management Methods and Systems
DefinitionLean production (リーン生産方式) is an approach in which Western researchers reorganized the Toyota Production System, aiming to remove waste that adds no value from processes and produce efficiently with fewer resources.
ExplanationLean is an English word meaning without excess fat, and the approach takes in the inventory reduction of JIT and the kanban method. It identifies waste such as overproduction, transport, and waiting, and keeps improving. Business improvement also reviews muri (ムリ), load beyond capacity, and mura (ムラ), unevenness.
AnalogyLike packing for a move by getting rid of things you don't use, cutting the number of trips, and smoothing out the plan, it works toward traveling light.
Memory hookLean means slim. Picture a factory that has trimmed the fat of inventory and idle waiting.