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Lean Thinking
Eliminating waste means creating more value for the customer with fewer resources, less energy and less scrap. We help companies apply the Lean philosophy, from process mapping to continuous improvement.
Continuous improvementLean Thinking
Definition
What Lean is and what Lean Thinking means
Lean is a management philosophy, born in the Toyota Production System, that aims to eliminate everything that does not create value for the customer.
Lean Thinking is the mindset that follows from it: treating every activity, from sending an email to a machining job on the shop floor, as part of a process that can be improved.
Traditional
- Goal
- Optimise times and methods
- Scope
- Individual processes, mostly in production
- Perspective
- Quantitative approach
Lean
- Goal
- Eliminate waste
- Scope
- The whole value chain: production, services, marketing and supply chain
- Perspective
- Big-picture view
Principles
The 5 principles of the Lean philosophy
Map the value stream
Lay out every activity and every flow of materials and information.
Create flow
Keep work moving without interruptions, waits or bottlenecks.
Establish pull
Produce only what is needed, when it is needed, on customer demand.
Seek perfection
Continuous improvement (Kaizen): every process can always be improved.
From 05 back to 01: every improvement becomes the new starting point.
Efficiency and optimisation
How process efficiency reduces an organisation's impact
Every form of waste has a hidden cost in energy, materials and emissions. That is why Lean Thinking is also a lever for energy efficiency and decarbonisation: by cutting overproduction, scrap, downtime and unnecessary handling, a company consumes less for the same output.
Results become measurable when process improvement is linked to environmental indicators.
Less energy per unit produced
Downtime, waits and redundant processing have a direct effect on consumption.
Fewer materials and less waste
Fewer defects and less overproduction mean less scrap to manage.
Data for reporting
Process improvements feed environmental KPIs, the carbon footprint and the sustainability report.
Our approach
How we support you
Training
We share with management and the team the Lean principles and tools the journey is built on.
Building the team
We define roles, responsibilities and senior management involvement to lead the project.
AS IS analysis
We map processes, flows and waste using Value Stream Mapping and Spaghetti Charts, adding data on consumption and scrap where useful.
Implementation
We design and introduce the new operating standard, working on layout, 5S, Standard Work and visual KPIs.
Continuous improvement
We consolidate results over time through periodic audits, the PDCA cycle and performance indicators.
Examples of applications
Some Lean Thinking tools
- S1Sort
- S2Set in order
- S3Shine
- S4Standardise
- S5Sustain
The 5S method
Sort, Set in order, Shine, Standardise, Sustain. Tidy, safe workstations, less time lost looking for tools, anomalies and losses spotted earlier. It is the foundation of every Lean journey.
Spaghetti Chart
A map of the routes people and materials take through a department. It makes handling waste visible and helps redesign the layout. It often shows that only a small share of an operator's time adds value.
Value Stream Mapping, in the office too
Mapping a process such as quoting → negotiation → order entry brings out waits, email hand-offs and double data entry. Lean is not just about the factory.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Lean Thinking
Lean is a management philosophy, born in the Toyota Production System, that aims to eliminate waste, meaning every activity that consumes resources without creating value for the customer.
It is the mindset that follows from the Lean philosophy: treating every activity, from sending an email to a machining job on the shop floor, as part of a process that can be improved.
There are five: identify value from the customer's point of view, map the value stream, create flow by removing waits and bottlenecks, establish pull by producing only what is needed when it is needed, and seek perfection through continuous improvement (Kaizen).
Waste is any activity that consumes resources without creating value for the customer. Lean identifies eight kinds: overproduction, inventory, transport, motion, waiting, over-processing, defects and unused talent.
The 5S method to organise and standardise workstations, the Spaghetti Chart to make the routes of people and materials visible and redesign the layout, and Value Stream Mapping applied to office processes too, such as quoting, negotiation and order entry.
No. Lean was born in the factory, but it also applies to offices, services, logistics and the supply chain: anywhere there are waits, redundant steps, double data entry or errors to fix.
Every form of waste has a hidden cost in energy, materials and emissions. By cutting overproduction, scrap, downtime and unnecessary handling, a company consumes less for the same output. When process improvement is linked to environmental indicators, results become measurable in terms of consumption, waste and CO₂e emissions, and they feed the carbon footprint and the sustainability report.
It depends on the scope and the number of processes involved. After the AS IS analysis we agree on a plan with phases, timing and indicators; continuous improvement then carries on over time with periodic audits and the PDCA cycle.
Lean Thinking
Talk to a Lean consultant
Tell us which processes you want to improve: one of our consultants will get back to you to define the right path, from AS IS mapping to the new standard.
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- We get back to you within 24 working hours
- A first concrete direction for your ESG goals
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