Lean for dummies

Introduction
The principles and practices of Lean organizations are recognized the world over as the most powerful and effective way to build and sustain continuously improving businesses and institutions. Following a Lean path, any business in any industry of any size or type can improve itself continuously over the long term. Led by advancements first pioneered at the Toyota
Motor Corporation over 50 years ago, Lean is now established as the most consistently successful approach to organizing and operating any enterprise.
If you’re in certain manufacturing industries, or public institutions like the
U.S. military, you’ve probably heard about Lean. You may even have been through a Kaizen event or been part of implementing a pull system. If so, you’ve already experienced some of the power of Lean tools.
But if you’re like most people, the term Lean itself may be unfamiliar to you, let alone its principles and practices. Even within those businesses and organizations that have adopted Lean methods, most people don’t really understand the bigger picture of Lean. Organizations often implement Lean piecemeal, leaving some of the most important elements behind — and with much less than optimal results.
For decades, the whole system of Lean principles and practices was known only to specialized manufacturers, certain academic researchers, and quality gurus. The Toyota Production System (TPS) was the incubator where the methods, techniques, and tools of Lean were pioneered and refined. Its full potential has been a mystery to most organizations and professionals.
All that began to change in the late 1980s, as the term Lean was coined to describe the fundamentals of business systems like TPS to the rest of the world. As the understanding of Lean has spread across continents, industries, and organizations, it has become less of a mystery and much easier to understand and implement.
Simply stated, Lean is a philosophy and a proven long-term