Lean manufacturing is a methodology for reducing waste in the manufacturing process. First introduced by Toyota in 1930, the term ‘lean’ was coined in 1988. It has since become common practice in the industry.

What is lean manufacturing?

Lean manufacturing is the continual pursuit of waste reduction in the manufacturing process. Waste is anything that uses resources without adding value to the customer.

The seven wastes defined in the original Toyota Production System are:

• Unnecessary transportation
• Excess inventory
• Unnecessary motion of people, equipment, or machinery
• Waiting—inactive employees, or idle equipment
• Over-production of product
• Over-processing—putting in more resources than a customer needs
• Defects—which require resources to correct